Early on in his recruitment, four teams are standing out the most to 2026 four-star cornerback Julian Peterson from New Jersey, including Syracuse football, according to a national analyst.
In a recent piece, Rivals.com and Yahoo Sports national recruiting director Adam Gorney discussed various top-flight high school prospects across the 2025 and 2026 classes, including the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Peterson.
Gorney wrote in part, "There is no visit schedule yet for Peterson but Penn State, Pitt, Georgia and Syracuse are the four programs standing out most in his recruitment."
Per his X account, the Orange staff offered a scholarship to Peterson in late July of this year. On his X page, Peterson describes himself as a multi-positional athlete, competing at both defensive back and running back.
Blessed to receive an offer from Syracuse University @chillbelton @CoachLewis_shec @FranBrownCuse @winslowtwpfb @RivalsFriedman @adamgorney pic.twitter.com/3lLQgvIl1C
— Julian Peterson (@Julian_athlete) July 29, 2024
As a rising high school junior, Peterson could have a way to go in his recruiting process. However, it's still encouraging that the 'Cuse appears to be a major player for him, at least for the time being.
Four-star athlete Julian Peterson seems to be high on Syracuse football.
Peterson attends Winslow Township High School in Atco, N.J. As we've discussed on many occasions, Orange head coach Fran Brown and several of his assistants hail from New Jersey, and the Garden State has proven a big recruiting focus of the Syracuse football staff in multiple cycles.
According to recruiting services, Peterson's full offer sheet includes college squads such as Akron, Boston College, Connecticut, Duke, East Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Penn State, Pittsburgh, UCF and West Virginia.
Recruiting Web sites also state that Peterson is garnering interest from schools including Florida, Maryland and Rutgers.
Per Rivals.com, within the 2026 class, Peterson checks in at No. 245 nationally, No. 18 at cornerback and No. 4 in New Jersey.
When I wrote this story, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed him as three stars, No. 387 overall, No. 32 at cornerback and No. 8 in New Jersey.
Over at the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, Peterson was three stars, No. 361 nationwide, No. 27 at cornerback and No. 7 in New Jersey.
To date, Syracuse football has one verbal pledge in its 2026 class. Not too long ago, 2026 four-star athlete/defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. and 2026 four-star linebacker/edge Izayia Williams both elected to de-commit from the 'Cuse. Both prospects play high school football in Florida, with media reports saying that each wants to remain in the Sunshine State for college.
That leaves the Orange staff with one verbal pledge in 2026, from four-star running back D'Antae Sheffey of Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Pa. Sheffey gave a verbal commitment to Syracuse football back in mid-April of this year.