4-star LB Blake Nichelson announces commitment date

One of the top uncommitted linebackers in the 2023 cycle has revealed his commitment date. Ripon (Calif.) Manteca four-star linebacker Blake Nichelson will be announcing his college decision on Sept. 20.

Nichelson is the No. 222 overall prospect and No. 19 linebacker in the 2023 On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 13 player in California.

On3 rates Nichelson higher than other recruiting services, according to the Industry Comparison. Per the 2023 On300, he is the No. 184 overall prospect, No. 16 linebacker and No. 11 player in California.

The 6-foot-2, 215 pound prospect has received 13 offers. According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, Florida State has a commanding lead for his commitment at 97.4%.

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RPM was released to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. 

It factors in machine learning, social sentiment, visits and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

The Seminoles received an official visit from Nichelson on June 17. He also took an official visit to Oregon on June 24.

The four-star had high praise for head coach Mike Norvell. He spoke about Norvell in a conversation with Warchant.com last month.

“For a lot of head coaches, they just talk with you a couple of times and not really involved with you,” Nichelson told Michael Langston. “But as a head coach, (Norvell is) very involved with everybody. He’s there for you.”

Nichelson has an On3 NIL Valuation of $16.3K. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Blake Nichelson On3 Scouting Summary

The following is the On3 Scouting Summary for Blake Nichelson:

“Athletic linebacker prospect who dominates high school competition as a two-way player. Measured at over 6-foot-2, 213 pounds prior to his senior season. A top athlete at the position who tests well in the combine setting. Ran an electronically-timed 4.64 second 40-yard dash prior to his senior season. A phenomenal high school football player as a running back and linebacker. Accounted for over 2,600 yards from scrimmage and 44 total touchdowns as a junior. Also tallied 49 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 7 sacks and one interception.

“Is almost always the top athlete on the field on Friday nights. Easily out-runs opposing defenses with the ball in his hands. Spends much of his time on defense as a standup pass rusher. Shows his speed on defense with the ability to hunt down ball carriers and make plays behind the line of scrimmage. Has neutral wing-span and shorter arms relative to other top linebackers. Will need to adjust to playing in space at the next level, but has more than enough speed and athleticism.”