Might we have a Syracuse football quarterback battle on our hands ahead of the 2026 season?
Head coach Fran Brown, in an interview this week with On3's Andy Staples, had many positive things to say about members of his 2026 quarterback room. The prevailing sentiment among SU fans is that Steve Angeli will be the Orange's starting signal-caller in the upcoming campaign.
Angeli, the 6-foot-3, 212-pound transfer from Notre Dame, was leading the country in total passing yards in 2025 as a redshirt junior before he suffered a season-ending injury. It looks like he's in good physical health as we inch closer to summer workouts and then preseason camp.
Fran is legitimately excited about Nelson.
— Andy Staples (@AndyStaples) May 12, 2026
Obviously, they’re hoping Steve Angeli is healthy and ready to go. But between Nelson and Kennesaw State transfer Amari Odom, Brown feels much better prepared to handle whatever may arise. https://t.co/z8YwvRcaex
However, Brown showered praise on another 'Cuse quarterback, Malachi Nelson, who transferred in from UTEP and has also previously attended Boise State and Southern California. Nelson, a rising redshirt junior, was a five-star prospect and the former No. 1 overall player in the 2023 class, per ESPN.
"He's really, really good," Brown said of Nelson. "We believe in him ... he's tough, fights, super athletic. ... I'm super impressed."
Head coach Fran Brown digs his quarterback room for 2026.
After Angeli went down in SU's game (and win) at Clemson, the 'Cuse struggled for the rest of the 2025 stanza, ultimately finishing with a 3-9 mark after starting 3-1. Brown said in the On3 interview that he's "not gonna get caught like last year. ... We got some guys" in 2026.
Besides Angeli and the 6-foot-3, 193-pound Nelson, the Syracuse football staff landed transfer commitments from Kennesaw State redshirt sophomore Amari Odom, an All-Conference USA first-team performer in 2025, and Georgetown redshirt junior Danny Lauter.
Brown says he's excited to watch Nelson and the other quarterbacks compete for the starting job with Angeli. The Orange head coach says that Odom "has done a really good job" of understanding and running SU's offense amid the recent spring practices. Brown adds that Lauter is a "good" football player.
Regarding Nelson, Brown says that he sees what others saw in the quarterback a few years back, when he was the No. 1 national prospect. The two have forged a great connection, and Brown says that Nelson is focused on the job at hand and not on what the outside world thinks of him, given his high school accolades.
"I love that kid," Brown says of Nelson. "He's a good kid, and he deserves the best. I want to see him win." Brown lauded Nelson's character and integrity. "He's solid," Brown says. "So are the other guys."
Add us as a preferred source on Google