Syracuse Football: Ahead of Friday decision, SU has heavy analyst buzz for 3-star DL

If the projections from analysts hold true, and I think they will, Syracuse football could be adding to its 2025 class on Friday.

On July 5, three-star defensive lineman Elijah Crawford from the Baltimore area is expected to reveal his college decision. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Crawford is a rising senior and a captain at the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md.

Crawford has a final three of the Orange, Rutgers and West Virginia. He officially visited all of his finalists last month, including a trip to Syracuse football from June 7 to June 9.

When I wrote this article on Thursday, the 'Cuse had sizable analyst buzz in Crawford's recruitment between the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com and the On3 Web site.

While these sorts of predictions aren't always accurate, based on the analysts who have forecast Crawford to Syracuse football, I'd candidly be a little surprised if he doesn't call the Orange's name on Friday.

Syracuse football appears to be in great shape for 2025 three-star DL Elijah Crawford.

The new 'Cuse staff, lead by head coach Fran Brown, offered a scholarship to Crawford on December 12 of last year, not long after Brown was officially introduced by SU Athletics as the new boss of Syracuse football.

Crawford's full offer sheet also includes schools such as Connecticut, Indiana, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Charlotte, Akron, Liberty, Delaware, Coastal Carolina, Howard and Dartmouth.

Per his X page, Crawford also took an unofficial visit to the Hill in late March of this year. In late May, he caught the eye of Rivals.com national analyst Adam Friedman for his performance at an Under Armour camp in Baltimore.

Okay, here's the latest on Thursday. Via the 247Sports Web site, the 'Cuse had predictions in its favor for Crawford from national analyst Brian Dohn and analyst Mike McAllister, who is the top expert out there tracking Syracuse football recruiting.

There was at least one projection for the Orange on Rivals.com, with the 'Cuse also holding a commanding lead for Crawford per the On3 recruiting prediction machine.

Currently, the Syracuse football 2025 class sits at 27 verbal pledges after long snapper Henry Searcy out of Lawton Chiles High School in Tallahassee, Fla., committed to the program earlier this week.

At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed the Orange's 2025 cycle at No. 28 nationally, while Rivals.com had this 'Cuse class at No. 23 around the country.