Miami star Zion Nelson unlikely to return this season after setback from offseason surgery
Zion Nelson, whose junior season began with All-America recognition and early hype as a potential first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, is unlikely to return this season after undergoing offseason knee surgery and playing in just one game.
“Zion,” coach Mario Cristobal said, “I don’t foresee it happening this season.”
The star tackle made his only appearance of the season in Week 3, playing as a reserve in Miami’s September loss to the then-No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies. He then sat out the Hurricanes’ stunning loss to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in Week 4 and Cristobal in October said the 6-foot-5, 316-pound offensive lineman had “a setback” in his recovery from surgery.
Nelson has not played since.
It has been a major blow to Miami’s struggling offense. Nelson earned preseason All-America recognition from Athlon, College Football News and The Athletic in the summer, and was supposed to be one of the best left tackles in the country with 33 games of starting experience.
Instead, he never fully recovered from July surgery, leaving the Hurricanes (4-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) without their best lineman.
John Campbell Jr. has started every game at left tackle in Nelson’s place and fellow offensive lineman DJ Sciafe Jr. has started every game at right tackle, but the interior spots have been a revolving door thanks to injuries to all three starters. Scaife also has experience at right guard and Nelson’s health would’ve given Miami some badly needed flexibility, as well as a star-level offensive line anchor.
Nelson was a little-known three-star tackle, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, when he signed with the Hurricanes, yet he won the starting job at left tackle immediately and mostly has not let it go, starting 33 of 36 games in his first four seasons at Miami. In the summer, he decided to have surgery to clean some loose cartilage out of his left knee — he initially tried to avoid it, instead trying to strengthen the leg and play through the issue — with the hope he’d be ready for the regular season or, at least, ACC play.
The plan never came to fruition. Nelson returned to practice near the end of training camp, but the Hurricanes opted not to rush him and held him out for the first two weeks of the season, only inserting him once they traveled to Texas for a top-25 showdown.
Those 41 snaps he played in College Station, however, increasingly look like all Miami will get from him this year.
Nelson will be able to use this as a redshirt season and retain more seasons of eligibility moving forward, should he decide not to declare for the NFL Draft.
As for the injury-riddled interior spots, Justice Oluwaseun, began the season as the starting right guard, “won’t” return this year, Cristobal said.
There’s more positive news, though, on fellow offensive lineman Jalen Rivers, who has started every game at left guard and had to be helped off the field in the first half of the Hurricanes’ 45-3 loss to the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday: His injury should not be a season-ending deal.
“Jalen is week to week,” Cristobal said. “He’s improving daily, so we’re excited about him.”
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 12:30 PM.
