Nebraska Football: Garrett Nelson chooses Dolphins over plethora of offers

Garrett Nelson wasn’t selected in the 2023 NFL Draft but it didn’t take the former Nebraska football star long at all to get a ton of attention as an undrafted free agent.

While Nelson watched former teammates Ochaun Mathis and Trey Palmer get drafted in the sixth round, he might have felt a little bit of regret about declaring early for the pros. However, it didn’t take long at all for him to find his own NFL team.

In fact, it turns out that while no NFL team felt the need to draft the defensive end, there were plenty that came calling when it was time to reel in undrafted free agents. At least 11 NFL teams came calling to be exact.

Having a plethora of teams wanting his services, Miami Herald writer Barry Jackson reported that Nelson decided the Miami Dolphins was the team Nelson wanted to give a try. It appears there was an excellent reason for that.

Nelson was one of the Dolphins’ 30 interviewees in the lead-up to the 2023 NFL Draft. They apparently came away impressed, even if there are questions about his readiness for the National Football League.

Nebraska football star heads to South Beach

There were undoubtedly more than a few Husker fans who thought that Nelson should have stuck around one more year. It turns out that the defensive end wasn’t always totally convinced he made the right call.

However, he’s banking on himself once again when trying to decide which NFL team will give him the best shot at competing in the pros. It’s worth pointing out that the defender only improved as his football career continued.

He broke out in 2021, logging 57 tackles and five sacks. His previous best sack number was just 1.5 before that. In 2022, he managed to get 65 tackles and 5.5 sacks. Now the born and bred Nebraska football hero will get to show he can improve even more.