Maddux Madsen, a returning Boise State quarterback, has beaten out high-profile transfer and former USC five-star recruit Malachi Nelson for the team’s starting job. Boise is set go with Madsen as its starting quarterback, a source tells 247Sports and CBS Sports.
Madsen had been in a competition with Nelson, who entered the transfer portal Dec. 17 and committed to Boise State Jan. 6.
The Broncos’ 2024 season opens Aug. 31 at Georgia Southern.
“Whoever the starter is as we go through it will be the starter,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said Saturday, according to the Idaho Statesman, after the Broncos’ second scrimmage. “Now, they don’t play well, they’re making bad decisions, whatever that might be in the game, we’re going to make changes.
“But we’re going to go in with a starter, and then we’ll adapt and adjust from there.”
The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Madsen appeared in nine games for the Broncos last season as a redshirt freshman. He threw for 1,191 yards and nine touchdowns to three interceptions. Madsen also ran for 120 yards and two scores.
A three-star recruit from American Fork (Utah) High, Madsen was the class of 2022’s No. 110 quarterback and No. 39 player in Utah.
Nelson, meanwhile, redshirted as a freshman at USC in 2023. The 6-foot-3, 193-pounder was the 2024 cycle’s No. 102 overall transfer and No. 15 quarterback.
He also heard from bigger brands such as Alabama, Miami and Texas A&M, among others, according to 247Sports national scouting analyst Greg Biggins, before announcing his Boise State decision.
“He played through a torn labrum on his off-throwing shoulder that required surgery his senior year,” Biggins wrote Jan. 6. “He early enrolled at USC but was never healthy and was the No. 3 guy on the depth chart behind Caleb Williams and Miller Moss.
“There is no doubt that he has talent and is one of the better pure throwers to come out of Southern California in recent years. He has an advanced feel for the position and his football intelligence is extremely high.”
A former five-star recruit from Los Alamitos (Calif.) High, Nelson was the class of 2023’s No. 13 overall prospect, No. 5 quarterback and No. 2 player in California.