Steven Nelson

Steven Nelson (born January 22, 1993) is an American football cornerback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL).

He was ranked as the 12th-best cornerback prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and was ranked as the 13th-best cornerback by USA Today.

As a senior in 2014, Nelson recorded 60 tackles and two interceptions.

On November 30, 2014, it was announced that Nelson had accepted his invitation to play in the 2015 Senior Bowl.

He played college football at Oregon State, and was drafted in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

He has also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles.

Nelson attended Northside High School in Warner Robins, Georgia.

As a senior, he had seven interceptions on defense and seven punt return touchdowns.

Also a track star at Warner Robins, Nelson had a best of 11.15 seconds in the 100 meters and was part of the 4x100 relay team that finished in first place in the county.

Nelson attended the College of the Sequoias for two years, where he had 71 tackles and six interceptions.

He was originally going to transfer to the University of Georgia but changed to Oregon State University.

Nelson entered his first season at Oregon State as the nickel corner, eventually becoming a starter and starting the final nine games.

For the season he had 62 tackles and six interceptions.

On January 24, 2015, Nelson appeared in the 2015 Senior Bowl and recorded four tackles as part of Tennessee Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt's North team that defeated the South 34–13.

Nelson attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed all of the combine and positional drills.

On March 13, 2015, Nelson participated at Oregon State's pro day and chose to run the 40-yard dash (4.46s), 20-yard dash (2.57s), 10-yard dash (1.57s), and also positional and pass coverage drills.

He attended pre-draft visits with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions and was considered one of the most underrated prospects in the upcoming draft.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Nelson was projected to be a third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

The Kansas City Chiefs selected Nelson in the third round (98th overall) of the 2015 NFL draft.

Nelson was the 14th cornerback drafted overall and was the second cornerback drafted by the Chiefs in 2015.

On May 15, 2015, the Chiefs signed Nelson to a four-year, $2.91 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $581,952.

Throughout training camp, Nelson competed for a backup cornerback spot against Jamell Fleming and Marcus Cooper.

Head coach Andy Reid named Nelson the sixth cornerback on the Chiefs' depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Sean Smith, Phillip Gaines, Marcus Peters, Jamell Fleming, and Marcus Cooper.

Nelson was inactive as a healthy scratch for the first four regular season games of his rookie season (Weeks 1–4).

On October 11, 2015, Nelson made his professional regular season debut in the Chiefs' 36–21 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4.

In Week 12, he collected a season-high three solo tackles in the Chiefs' 30–22 victory against the Buffalo Bills.

Nelson finished his rookie season with eight solo tackles in 12 games, appearing primarily on special teams.

The Chiefs finished second in the AFC West with an 11–5 record and earned a playoff berth as a wildcard.

On January 9, 2016, Nelson appeared in his first career playoff game and broke up a pass during a 30-0 victory at the Houston Texans in the AFC Wildcard Game.

The following week, the Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs after a 27–20 loss at the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round.

Throughout training camp, Nelson competed to be a starting cornerback after Smith departed for the Oakland Raiders in free agency.

Nelson competed against Jamell Fleming, Gaines, and rookie KeiVarae Russell.

Head coach Andy Reid named Nelson a starting cornerback to start the regular season, alongside Marcus Peters.

He started in the Chiefs' season-opener against the San Diego Chargers and collected a season-high nine solo tackles in their 33–27 victory.

In Week 9, he recorded two combined tackles and made a season-high three pass deflections during a 19–14 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Nelson was inactive for the Chiefs' Week 12 victory at the Denver Broncos due to a neck injury.

He finished the season with 65 combined tackles (59 solo) and 16 pass deflections in 15 games and 15 starts.

The Chiefs finished first in the AFC West with a 12–4 record and earned a first round bye.

On January 25, 2017, Nelson started his first career playoff game in the AFC Divisional Round against the Steelers and made five combined tackles as the Chiefs lost 18–16.

Nelson entered training camp slated as a starting cornerback but saw competition for the role from Gaines.