4-star edge Carter Gooden, who is officially visiting Syracuse football, soars in rankings

Syracuse football 2026 target Carter Gooden from Massachusetts skyrocketed into the national rankings when 247Sports provided its latest update earlier this month.

The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Gooden, who has already unofficially visited the Orange several times and will take an official visit to the Hill soon, went from unranked by 247Sports into the top 70 overall. The four-star edge, per 247Sports, is No. 69 nationally, No. 9 at defensive lineman and No. 1 in Massachusetts within his class.

When I wrote this article on Sunday, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking placed Gooden in the top 225 overall, the top 30 at edge/defensive lineman and No. 1 in Massachusetts.

Gooden is a standout at the Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass. As a junior in the 2024 season, according to 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins, Gooden tallied 49 total tackles, 29 tackles for a loss, seven sacks and two forced fumbles. He was named the Independent School League defensive player of the year, per Ivins.

Syracuse football is in the mix for 2026 four-star edge Carter Gooden.

Gooden holds around 20 high-major offers, according to Rivals.com. The Orange staff, led by head coach Fran Brown, offered Gooden a scholarship in April of last year. His primary recruiter at the 'Cuse is defensive ends coach Nick Williams.

Recently, Gooden has taken official visits to both Arizona State and UCLA, according to recruiting services. He has several more official visits scheduled, including to Boston College, Michigan State and Rutgers, among others.

Per his X page, Gooden's official visit to Syracuse football is from June 13 to June 15. I'm not seeing any analyst predictions thus far for Gooden on recruiting Web sites. At the time of this writing, On3's recruiting prediction machine had the Orange in the No. 2 spot for Gooden, trailing only Michigan State.

To date, the 'Cuse has secured at least 16 verbal pledges in its 2026 class. Currently, the 247Sports Composite rates this Syracuse football cycle at No. 13 around the country, while it checks in at No. 17 via Rivals.com and No. 28 at the On3 Web site.

In late January of this year, another 2026 four-star edge, Jarius Rodgers, verbally committed to the Orange. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Rodgers attends Fleming Island High School in Fleming Island, Fla.

After 247Sports' recent refresh, Rodgers arrived at No. 224 overall, No. 23 at edge and No. 27 in Florida, a state that the Syracuse football staff is recruiting extremely hard these days.