This is what I don't get. Riley is probably the greatest college QB developer of the last decade. Studs lined up to play for him at Oklahoma and one of them followed him to USC. And yet now they have so few options they have to settle for a one-year-rental who even we passed over?
This is rampant speculation on my part, but if I'm Nelson, I probably asked Riley about his seemingly endless pursuit of merc QB transfers year in and year out, and probably asked for some assurances that wouldn't happen when the job opened after Caleb Williams moved on. (And before everyone starts in with the "these kids are entitled brats!", everyone wanted Nelson out of high school. He clearly would've had options elsewhere).
Then the Howard interest breaks, and you're standing there wondering whether Riley truly intends to honor that assurance, or if he'll just go after the next highly rated upperclassmen transfer year after year - which he's done seemingly every year since he's been a head coach.
Again, rampant speculation. But Nelson will find a home somewhere and have the opportunity to play right away, which is the normal expectation for five-star QBs these days.
