Well, well. I didn't see this coming. On Friday, per his agent, UTEP redshirt sophomore quarterback Malachi Nelson said that he would transfer to Syracuse football. A huge congrats to Malachi!
This is a huge boost to an Orange quarterback room for the 2026 season that has already secured two other transfer commits this offseason. The transfer portal opened on January 2 and closed on January 16, but players only had to be in the portal by this past Friday. They didn't have to commit to a new school by January 16.
BREAKING: Malachi Nelson has committed to Syracuse University 🍊 @Malachi was the Number 1 overall recruit for the class of 2023, and we can’t wait to see how his journey continues with @CuseFootball and Head Coach Fran Brown! pic.twitter.com/sncrbclZ37
— NETWORK (@TheNetworkAdvsr) January 16, 2026
ESPN's Pete Thamel said that he believes the 6-foot-3, 193-pound Nelson is prepared to compete for the starting job at the 'Cuse. Redshirt junior Steve Angeli, who was leading the country in total passing yards in 2025 before suffering a season-ending injury in September, is thought to be the team's starting signal-caller for 2026.
On Saturday, a source confirmed to me that Nelson is planning to compete for the Orange's starting quarterback role in the upcoming campaign, and spring practices will tell the 'Cuse staff a lot about its transfer pledges and the team's overall 2026 QB room.
Nelson previously attended Boise State and before that, Southern California, where he redshirted during the 2023 campaign. In the 2023 prep class coming out of Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, Calif., ESPN ranked Nelson as a five-star player and the No. 1 national prospect in this cycle.
Syracuse football has scored a big-time transfer quarterback.
In the 2025 season, UTEP went just 2-10 overall and 1-7 in Conference USA action. Nelson appeared in six games, completing 54.7 percent of his passes for 1,163 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. In transfer rankings from 247Sports, Nelson is rated three stars, No. 1,518 overall and No. 105 at quarterback.
Here is where the Orange quarterback room for 2026 currently resides:
•Steve Angeli, a redshirt junior
•Transfer Malachi Nelson, a redshirt sophomore at UTEP
•Transfer Amari Odom, a redshirt sophomore at Kennesaw State
•Transfer Danny Lauter, a senior at Georgetown
•Freshman Joseph Filardi
•Freshman Rich Belin
•Incoming three-star freshman Zaid Lott from Charlotte, N.C.
As of Saturday morning, the 'Cuse had 19 transfer commits so far this offseason, and Syracuse football's portal class is No. 50 overall, per 247Sports.