The tall, lanky receiver developed into the Golden Eagles' best pass catcher during his time with the team, but also showed impressive blocking technique, averaging 45 knockdowns per season during his career. He also proved to be a clutch pass catcher, scoring 16 times on 155 receptions, the second-highest total by a USM player.

Nelson's 16 scores placed fourth on the school's all-time record list while his 2,038 receiving yards rank third. His catches and yards gained receiving rank second in Conference USA annals among the league's tight ends, while his 16 scores tied for third.

At East Ascension High School, Nelson helped lead the team to a 10-3 record and the tri-district championship (7-4A) in 2003, serving as team captain during his final campaign.

He was named to the Louisiana Football Coaches Association All-State team, adding All-District accolades. He also earned Max Emfinger's Blue Chip Recruiting Louisiana High School Football Super Team All-State honors and received a four-star rating by that recruiting service.

Recruited by Indiana, Mississippi State, Louisiana Tech and Tulane, Nelson enrolled at Southern Mississippi, spending the 2004 season performing on the scout team as a tight end while adding bulk to his 215-pound frame. The following season, he appeared in 12 games, starting the final 11 contests. The Gridiron Report Freshman All-Conference USA pick led the team with 35 receptions for 540 yards (15.4 avg) and five touchdowns. His 35 catches were the most by a freshman tight end in a season at USM.

After emerging in 2005, Nelson continued his progression the following year. In addition to leading the team in receptions for the second consecutive season, he was a valuable contributor on special teams. He totaled 36 receptions, good for 506 yards (14.1 avg) with three touchdowns.

Nelson also registered four tackles (2 solos). What made his receiving totals even more impressive was the fact that he played most of the second half of the season with a broken bone in his right hand. He was also suspended for the first half of the Houston game for a curfew violation.

As a junior, Nelson started 12 of the 13 games he played in. He had 33 catches for 451 yards (13.7 avg) and five scores, ranking second on the squad. He also delivered eight touchdown-resulting blocks for the ground game and posted six tackles (3 solos) for the coverage units.

Nelson garnered All-Conference USA accolades in 2008. He ranked second on the team, third in the league and ninth in the nation among tight ends with a career-high 53 catches for 557 yards (10.5 avg) and three touchdowns while starting 12 contests. His 53 grabs set a school single-season record for tight ends and tied for fifth overall.

After the season, he joined John Sawyer (1975) as the only USM tight ends to be selected to play in the Senior Bowl (Nelson missed the game with a hamstring injury) and became just the third Golden Eagles tight end to be selected to play in a postseason all-star game (Marvin Harvey was in the 1980 Blue-Gray Game).

GENERAL REPORT: GRADE: 6.2

Body Structure: Nelson has a tall, lanky frame and desperately needs to add bulk if he is to play the traditional tight end position at the next level. He has a built with proportionate muscle development, broad shoulders, good chest thickness and arm length, large hands and developing thighs and calves. He is tight-skinned, making one feel that he might be close to his maximum growth potential.

Athletic Ability: For a tight end, Nelson displays excellent foot speed, but with his light frame that might be at maximum growth potential he will possibly be used as a motion back at the next level. He is a normal strider, but has that burst to accelerate when running his routes (is inconsistent on his breaks, though). He has quick feet and good body control, but must develop better flexibility to make crisp cuts out of his breaks. He lacks great strength, but it is functional enough for him to do an adequate job blocking in space (marginal blocking in-line). He stays on his feet with above average balance, but must show more consistent hands, as he does drop too many easy throws. GRADE: 6.3

Football Sense: Nelson plays with good effort and has no problems learning and retaining plays. He plays with good awareness, but you would like to see him become more aggressive going for the ball in a crowd and as an in-line blocker. He makes good adjustments on the run, doing a nice job of spotting coverage while breaking off his routes. He has more than enough speed to get open after the catch, but must improve his agility and develop better moves and fakes when trying to separate. GRADE: 6.2

Character: Nelson is a good citizen with no off-field issues. He was in the coach's doghouse just once, as he was suspended for one half of a 2006 game for missing curfew, but has no other off-field issues. He gets along well with teammates and is a quiet person, but highly respected by the staff. GRADE: 6.0

Competitiveness: Anyone who might question Nelson's toughness needs to look at the second half of 2006, when he played the balance of the schedule with a broken bone in his right hand. He has good playmaking ability, but you would like for him to show better aggression for the position. Nelson does not step away from blocking assignments, showing a fighting nature and the ability to come through in the clutch, but will get pushed back often blocking in-line due to a lack of bulk and ideal strength to face up to down linemen. GRADE: 6.2

Work Habits: Nelson is a hard worker on the field, doing a good job of finishing his assignment on the playing field. He is not a complainer or front runner, showing the solid football character that made him the team captain due to his lead by example type of work ethic. He takes pride in his training, evident by his impressive performance at the NFL Combine. GRADE: 6.5

ATHLETIC REPORT: GRADE: 6.26

Release: Nelson does a nice job of coming off the snap with good quickness. He won't explode past the defender, but flashes the acceleration and moves to escape the jam and get back into his route effectively. He is fluid and appears to be balanced, as he can get skinny to get his best release. He has above average foot speed to elude and developing strength to fight through the hold-up at the line of scrimmage. His ability to get into his routes, along with his size and natural hands, made him the focal point of the team's 2008 offensive attack. GRADE: 6.3

Acceleration: Nelson shows a nice stride to simply glide down the field. He needs to be more agile when changing direction, but has good ability to get open in the short areas. He has the feel to adjust to uncover and effective ball reaction working in a crowd (better pass catcher in traffic, as he really concentrates on looking the ball in and shielding it from defenders, but struggles to make adjustments on long throws). He has the speed to separate, but will false-step or throttle down too much trying to get his body in position to snare the long throws. He has the ability to stretch the coverage and his speed will expose defenders, but must do a better job of securing the ball on deep routes. He knows how to uncover quickly and use his hands to push off the linebackers to stay open on short routes. He just does not do a good job of tracking the long ball in flight, despite displaying the speed to separate deep. GRADE: 6.8

Quickness: This is one of his better assets, especially when he has to reach a 7-tech, as he has a knack for hooking them. Nelson shows good intelligence getting into his patterns, playing with good suddenness to gain advantage on the defender. He is just inconsistent coming out of his breaks and might have some vision issues, as he struggles to look the deep ball in, especially over his outside shoulder. GRADE: 7.0

Route Running: Nelson runs hot and cold in his patterns. He shows good speed and body control, but has to improve his timing. He does a nice job of dropping his weight to execute his cuts in the short area, but takes too many small steps in and out of his cuts to be much of an impact on the long-ball game. He is really nothing more than rudimentary, getting better success when used mostly on digs, drags and option routes. The coaching staff recognized Nelson's speed and made a concerted effort to develop plays that would feature his athletic ability, but all he did was drift and round his cuts when asked to stretch the field. At the Senior Bowl practices, he showed better ability to break sharply without having to gather himself (staff corrected a minor hitch, a false-step coming off the blocks), so maybe the light is finally going on upstairs. GRADE: 5.7

Separation Ability: Nelson flashes a good burst to separate from defenders in the short area. He has a decent feel running controlled patterns, where he is more comfortable using his acceleration and burst on his breaks to get open. He has enough speed to isolate linebackers and safeties working in the middle or getting into the deep zone. He uses his body well to push off and create separation. With his size, he has the ability to shield the ball from defenders. He just needs to be more alert to the soft spots in the zone, but he can create leverage with his initial move. GRADE: 7.0

Ball Concentration: Nelson shows courage and toughness to assert himself in traffic. He has just adequate strength to power through tackles, but will not hesitate to elevate and extend for the ball in a crowd. He has a tendency to trap the ball, and at times will drop it. When he extends for the ball away from his frame, he does a nice job of getting to it at its high point and shows urgency securing the ball before he runs. He maintains balance and awareness through his routes, keeping an eye on the defender's positioning in attempts to turn the short tosses into positive yardage. GRADE: 6.2

Ball Adjustment: Nelson does a nice job of catching the short throws and running with the ball without having to break stride. He is efficient at opening his hips and turning to come back for the ball, but does struggle to look the pass in over his outside shoulder. He seems more natural making body adjustments when he can face the ball, as he just loses sight when trying to track the ball or make the over-the-shoulder grabs. His hands are natural, but he will drop a few when he tries to basket catch. Still, he is a naturally fluid and smooth runner who shows average flexibility and body adjustment skills on the run. GRADE: 5.8

Leaping Ability: Nelson has the long arms and vertical skills to get to the ball at its high point, also showing impressive timing. He is a natural jumper who is best when used on underneath routes. GRADE: 6.5

Hands: His hands are also hot and cold, but it seems more from of a lack of concentration, as he will lose focus for stretches. Nelson will short arm a bit when working in tight quarters, but when lined wide he will extend and pluck with a fluid motion. He is still developing consistency, but has the ability to excel in this area over time. GRADE: 6.0

Run After the Catch: Nelson does a nice job of avoiding contact, showing good spin moves and head and shoulder fakes to con and sell the second-level defenders. He shows decent run vision turning upfield and good straight-line acceleration. He has enough speed to be considered a slot receiver. He runs at a low pad level and has the functional strength to break arm tackles in the open when he stays low in his pad level. Once he develops more strength and adds bulk, he could be a nice target in the intermediate regions. GRADE: 6.7

Blocking Ability: While the effort is there, Nelson seems a little bit on the light side to get the job done consistently vs. bigger opponents. He has adequate strength to uproot and get movement when blocking in the second level, but is just marginal working in-line. He shows good ability to reach and shield at the second level vs. the linebackers, displaying good hand punch and usage, along with the balance to lock on and sustain. GRADE: 4.9

Compares To: TONY SCHEFFLER, Denver -- Like Scheffler, Nelson is best served lined wide or in motion than when asked to work in-line. He has just adequate strength, which prevents him from being much of a blocker at the line of scrimmage. He shows very good open-field acceleration and works back to the ball well, but does struggle tracking the deep throws, especially those over his outside shoulder. He is the type that you will need to compensate by having a physical blocker to share positional duties.

OVERALL GRADE: 6.25

--Report by Dave-Te' Thomas

Nelson started 47 of 52 games at Southern Mississippi, catching 157 passes for 2,054 yards (13.08 avg) and 16 touchdowns … Only Ibn Green of Louisville (217 for 2,830 yards, 1996-99) had better statistics among Conference USA tight ends … His 16 scoring grabs tied Mark Hafner of Houston (2006-present) for third on the C-USA tight end record list behind Green (33) and James Casey of Rice (17, 2007-08) … Ranks second in school history with his 157 receptions, topped by Sherrod Gideon (193, 1996-99) … Joined Gideon (3,214 yards) and Todd Pinkston (2,366; 1996-99) as the only players in school history to gain more than 2,000 receiving yards in a career … His 16 touchdowns are topped by Gideon (30), Pinkston (22) and Marvin Young (17, 2001-04) on the school all-time record list … His 53 receptions in 2008 set the school single-season record for tight ends and tied Cliff Coggin (1953) for sixth on USM's overall single-season record list behind DeAndre Brown (67 in 2008), Gideon (66 in 1998 and 54 in 1997), LeRoy Handy (59 in 2001) and Shawn Mills (55 in 2000) … Pulled down 12 receptions vs. Auburn in 2008, ranking behind Gideon (13 vs. Penn State in 1998) on the school single-game record list.

All-Conference USA honorable mention … Started 12 games at tight end, ranking second on the team, as he set a school single-season record for tight ends by catching 53 of 83 passes thrown to him (63.86 percent), gaining 557 yards (10.5 avg) with three touchdowns … 32 of his catches (60.38 percent) were good for first downs, as he converted 10 of 26 third-down plays (38.46 percent) … Made 20 of his receptions inside the red zone (37.74 percent), including seven on goal-line plays … Six of his catches were for 20 yards or longer … Gained over 100 yards receiving twice, coming in back-to-back games vs. Auburn and Arkansas State.

Louisiana-Lafayette … Nelson opened the season with three receptions for 35 yards, setting up a third quarter 25-yard field goal with 7 and 25-yard grabs that put the ball on the ULL 9.

Auburn … The senior tight end pulled down a career-high twelve passes that included eight first downs, as he gained 118 yards with a pair of touchdowns … Late in the third quarter, he capped a 90-yard, 11-play possession with a 1-yard scoring grab in the right flat … He kept a forth quarter series alive by catching a fourth-&-16 pass down the middle from Austin Davis and concluded that 90-yard, 11-play drive with a 17-yard score … Record Watch: Nelson's twelve receptions rank behind Sherrod Gideon (thirteen vs. Penn State in 1998) on the school single-game record list.

Arkansas State … The team captain added 110 yards on seven receptions, including six that resulted in touchdowns, as he set up two touchdown drives and another series that ended with a field goal, converting three third-down tosses for the day … His third-&-16 grab for 20 yard led to a USM 23-yard field goal after the team's first possession … Followed with a pair of 10-yarders, including one on third-&-9 and then took down a 25-yard toss at the ASU 6. Two plays later, he cleared a rush lane used by Tory Harrison for a 1-yard scoring run that ended an 11-play, 71-yard possession … His third-&-8 grab for 24 yards followed with Austin Davis' 1-yard touchdown lob in the second stanza … Record Watch: Nelson's 110 yards gave him 1,760 for his career, moving to fourth place on the school's all-time record list.

Texas-El Paso … Nelson pulled in seven of the thirteen passes targeted to him, gaining 57 yards with three first downs, converting a pair of third-down snaps … After a third quarter onside kick that USM recovered, QB Austin Davis fired a 10-yard touchdown to Nelson … His third-&-9 catch for 16 yards set up Davis' 4-yard scoring lob to DeAndre Brown in overtime … Record Watch: Nelson scoring grab was the 16th for his career, moving to fourth on the school all-time record list.

Boise State … Nelson had a quite day, catching three passes for 24 yards, but those three grabs gave him 138 for his career, tying LeRoy Handy (1999-2002) for third on the school all-time record list.

Rice … Nelson took over sole possession of third place on the school career-record list with 144 receptions, snaring six passes, all for first downs, as he tallied 71 yards … His third-&-5 catch for 7 yards kept a late second quarter series alive that DeAndre Brown ended with an 8-yard scoring grab … Record Watch: In addition to his 144 catches ranking third on the USM career-record chart, his 71 yards gave him 1,993 for his career, also good for third in school history.

Central Florida … Nelson collected seven receptions for 57 yards, with four of those grabs coming inside the red zone … His third-&-3 catch for 16 yards, followed by a 10-yarder led to the tight end clearing a path used by QB Austin Davis for an 8-yard scoring scamper that capped an 85-yard, 17-play possession with 0:05 left in the first half.

East Carolina … Nelson's only catch came on a third-&-8 toss from Austin Davis that the tight end converted into a 19-yard gain before fumbling the ball that ECU recovered.

Troy (New Orleans Bowl) … The senior tight end closed out his career with two catches for 18 yards, including a 5-yarder that converted a third-&-2 snap to keep an early first quarter series alive.

Named the most physical receiver in Conference USA by The Sporting News, Nelson started twelve games, finishing third on the team with 33 receptions for 451 yards (13.7 avg) and five touchdowns, averaging 34.69 receiving yards per game … Ten of his catches were for 20 yards or longer … Also excelled on the special teams coverage units, making six tackles (3 solos) that included two hits vs. Memphis and one each in the Tennessee, Boise State, Rice and Alabama-Birmingham clashes.

Nelson caught four passes for 52 yards vs. Tennessee … Added 62 yards on three grabs, including a 28-yard score vs. East Carolina … Followed with three receptions for 59 yards and a 23-yard touchdown vs. Boise State … Added an 8-yard score vs. Rice and a 28-yard touchdown to go with 81 yards on five receptions in the Southern Methodist contest … Had five catches for 49 yards vs. Marshall and a season-long 40-yarder vs. Texas-El Paso … In the PapaJohns.com Bowl, the tight end found the end zone with a 10-yard score in the first quarter.

All-Conference USA first-team pick by the league's coaches, adding second-team honors from the media … Recipient of "Big Block" Award for his performance on special teams … Nelson proved his toughness during his sophomore year, as he played most of the second half of the season with a broken bone in his right hand, suffered in practice two days before the Tulsa contest … Also played with an ankle sprain vs. Tulane … Started twelve times, as he was suspended for the first half of the Houston clash due to a curfew violation … Made up for that miscue by leading the team with 36 receptions for 506 yards (14.1 avg) and three touchdowns … Recorded four tackles (2 solos), including two vs. Tulsa and one each vs. Southeastern Louisiana and Ohio University.

Nelson snatched six for 85 yards vs. Florida in the season opener … Had five receptions for 58 yards vs. North Carolina State … Snared two passes for 32 yards, including a game-winning 16-yard touchdown in a 31-27 decision over Houston … Made two catches for 35 yards and a fourth quarter 19-yard score in the Memphis clash … Added 59 yards on three grabs vs. Alabama-Birmingham, followed by six receptions for 63 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown with 0:33 left in the first half vs. Marshall.

Freshman All-Conference USA pick by The Gridiron Report … Played in twelve games, starting the final eleven contests, as he became the first tight end in school annals to lead the team in receptions, pulling down 35 passes for 540 yards (15.4 avg) and five touch-downs, averaging 45.0 receiving yards per game … Also delivered a pair of solo tackles in the Tulsa clash.

Nelson made his collegiate debut with 40 yards on two catches vs. McNeese State and scored his first touchdown on a 33-yard toss from QB Dustin Almond, finishing with 51 yards on three grabs vs. East Carolina … Totaled 55 yards on four receptions with a 10-yard score in the fourth quarter that gave USM a 37-28 decision over Alabama-Birmingham … Snatched four passes for 47 yards vs. Memphis … Went over the century mark for the first time in his career, gaining 113 yards on five catches, including a third quarter career-long 63-yard touchdown vs. Tulane … Followed with 121 yards on six receptions and two scores, including the game-winning 29-yard touchdown vs. Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl.

Red-shirted as a freshman.

OFF-FIELD ISSUE

2006: Was suspended for the first half of the Houston game (10/14) for a curfew violation.

2006: Originally suffered an ankle sprain during a 10/07 practice and re-injured it in the Tulane game (11/11) … Suffered a broken bone in his right hand two days before the Tulsa clash (10/03).

2009: Had to pull out of the Senior Bowl after he tweaked a hamstring earlier in the week during practices.

Combine: 4.52 in the 40-yard dash … 1.50 10-yard dash … 2.60 20-yard dash … 6.96 three-cone drill … 33-inch vertical jump … 9'7" broad jump … Bench pressed 225 pounds 19 times … 34 1/2-inch arm length … 10-inch hands … Chose not to run 60-yard shuttle.

Attended East Ascension (Gonzales, La.) High School, playing football for head coach Bill Beasley … Helped lead the team to a 10-3 record and the tri-district championship (7-4A) in 2003, serving as team captain during his final campaign … Named to the Louisiana Football Coaches Association All-State team, adding All-District accolades … Also earned Max Emfinger's Blue Chip Recruiting Louisiana High School Football Super Team All-State honors and received a four-star rating by that recruiting service.

Coaching and Sport Administration major … Son of Lynette and Henry Gibbs … Born 10/05/85 … Resides in Gonzales, Louisiana.