Boise State's Maddux Madsen, who was a 2-star recruit, wins QB battle over a former blue chip prospect

It has been an improbable journey for Maddux Madsen, who was named the starting quarterback at Boise State this week.

The significance behind this is not only was Madsen a two-star recruit coming out of high school but he wasn’t even ranked as a quarterback recruit nationally by Rivals. And now two years later, he beat out a former USC quarterback in getting the starting job at Boise State.

And not just any quarterback, but one with quite the pedigree and hype in Malachi Nelson.

It was Nelson who was the presumptive favorite to win the starting quarterback job when he joined Boise State out of the transfer portal this past spring. After all, Nelson (who threw just three passes during his single season at USC) is a former five-star recruit.

On top of that, Nelson was also the top-ranked recruit in the nation in the class of 2023 according to ESPN. He played his high school football for Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, California).

USC transfer Malachi Nelson has lost the Boise State QB Battle to (RS) Sophomore Maddux Madsen.

Madsen was the 110th-ranked QB in 2022, Nelson was a 5 top-5 QB in 2023.

Wow. pic.twitter.com/MkbPyYIqet

— College Football Report (@CFBRep) August 18, 2024

What a tremendous statement from Madsen in winning the starting job at Boise State. It will be interesting to see if Nelson sticks around or makes a move to try and win the starting job elsewhere.

Last season, Madsen completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 1,191 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions at Boise State.