Syracuse Football: Fast-rising DL to officially visit, names top 3, has decision date

Elijah Crawford, a three-star defensive lineman in the 2025 class from the Baltimore area who recently caught the eye of a national analyst, is winding down his recruiting process, and Syracuse football is firmly in the mix.

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Crawford, a rising senior and a captain at the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md., disclosed a top three via his X page that consists of the Orange, Rutgers and West Virginia.

He also says that he plans to announce his college decision on July 5.

Crawford, who holds around 15 offers in total, picked up a scholarship offer from the 'Cuse on December 12 of last year.

According to his bio on Rivals.com, Crawford plans to officially visit Syracuse football on June 7, Rutgers on June 14 and then West Virginia on June 21.

Syracuse football remains a contender for 2025 three-star defensive lineman Elijah Crawford.

Beyond the Orange, per recruiting services and his X page, Crawford's full offer sheet includes schools such as Connecticut, Indiana, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Charlotte, Akron, Liberty, Delaware, Coastal Carolina, Howard and Dartmouth.

According to his X account, Crawford did take an unofficial visit to the Hill in late March of this year.

Not too long ago, Rivals.com national analyst Adam Friedman was on hand during an Under Armour camp in Baltimore, and Crawford suited up in this event. Friedman noted that a variety of defensive linemen who participated in the camp caught his attention, including Crawford.

As I noted in another recent column, numerous other Syracuse football 2025 three-star and four-star recruits have set their commitment announcement dates. Some of these targets have already visited the Orange, and a few are taking official visits to the 'Cuse soon, much like Crawford.

To date, head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight assistant staff have assembled a fabulous 2025 cycle that includes at least 19 verbal commitments and hovers around a top-10 national ranking from the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and Rivals.com.

One of those 2025 verbal pledges is three-star defensive lineman Haleem Muhammad out of The Pennington School in Pennington, N.J.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Muhammad revealed his commitment to Syracuse football in late April via his Instagram page.

It's exciting that the Orange has made Crawford's final three, and I hope his upcoming official visit to Central New York goes smashingly.