Rutgers transfer offensive lineman, former 4-star Syracuse football target, visiting SU

Jaelyne Matthews, a transfer offensive lineman from Rutgers and a former Syracuse football recruiting target while in high school, is expected to visit the Orange program on Wednesday, according to multiple media reports.

Listed as 6-foot-6 and 340 pounds on the 247Sports Web site, Matthews hails from New Jersey. Multiple Syracuse football staff members, including head coach Fran Brown, also come from the Garden State.

Matthews was rated a four-star prospect in the 2025 class by several recruiting Web sites. He held 30 offers, per 247Sports, from schools such as Arkansas, Boston College, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Wisconsin, among many others.

According to his X page, Matthews visited the 'Cuse in early April of 2022. Later that month, he reported a scholarship offer from the Orange coaching staff.

Syracuse football is reportedly hosting a former recruiting target on Wednesday for a visit.

Matthews attended Toms River High School North in Toms River, N.J. In the 2024 season, when he was a senior, Toms River went 14-0 and captured the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association ("NJSIAA") Group 5 state championship.

While a member of the 2025 cycle, Matthews enrolled at Big Ten Conference school Rutgers this past January. Per 247Sports, he entered the transfer portal on April 16. The current transfer portal window for college football opened on that day and runs through April 25.

In early December of 2023, around the time that SU Athletics officially named Brown as the Orange's new head coach, Matthews said via X that Syracuse football was "now part of my top schools."

Last May, 247Sports national scouting analyst Gabe Brooks published an evaluation of Matthews, writing in part that he "could become a multi-year P4 starter who possesses the combination of size and two-way volume that reflect many recent NFL Draft selections on the LOS (line of scrimmage)."

As a prep recruit in the 2025 class, Rivals.com placed Matthews as four stars, No. 39 at offensive tackle and No. 10 in New Jersey.

When I wrote this article on Wednesday morning, in its national transfer rankings, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking had Matthews as three stars, No. 608 nationally and No. 45 at offensive tackle.

Not too long ago, Louisville offensive lineman Austin Collins, a three-star transfer prospect, said he was committing to the 'Cuse. He is expected to have one season of collegiate eligibility left.

Per reports and recruiting services, several Syracuse football offensive linemen have recently entered the transfer portal, such as Kalan Ellis, Willie Goodacre, David Wohlabaugh Jr. and Enrique Cruz Jr.

Conversely, the Orange does have numerous offensive linemen on its roster for the upcoming term, inclusive of returnees from a stanza ago and commits within its 2025 cycle at the high school level and via the transfer portal.