Syracuse Football: Michigan DL transfer, a former 4-star prep recruit, one to watch

I'd keep an eye on Michigan freshman defensive lineman Owen Wafle, a three-star transfer prospect who is in the portal and held a scholarship offer from Syracuse football while in prep school in New Jersey.

The 6-foot-2, 298 pound Wafle, who is from Middletown, N.J., entered the transfer portal on January 2, according to his bio on the 247Sports Web site. He did not appear in any games for Big Ten Conference member Michigan during the 2024 season, and media reports suggest that he will take a redshirt for this past term and should have four years of collegiate eligibility left.

As a member of the 2024 cycle, Wafle was rated four stars by several recruiting Web sites. In that class, Rivals.com had him as the No. 21 defensive tackle and the No. 4 prospect coming out of New Jersey.

Wafle was a standout at The Hun School in Princeton, N.J., and in his tenure there, he won various awards and honors. Per his bio on the Michigan athletics department Web site, in 2023 as a senior, Wafle had 16 total tackles and 10 tackles for a loss.

As a junior at The Hun School, he was dominant, collecting 64 total tackles, 24 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks.

By the way, in the recently completed 2024 campaign, the Wolverines went 8-5 overall, including a 19-13 win over No. 11 Alabama late last month at the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla.

Michigan transfer defensive lineman Owen Wafle is a former Syracuse football target.

The Orange, under the staff led by former head coach Dino Babers, offered a scholarship to Wafle on January 10 of 2022, according to his X page.

I'll be curious to see if the current Syracuse football staff, led by first-year head coach and ace recruiter Fran Brown, makes a pursuit of Wafle. As I've documented on many occasions, Brown and a few other Orange coaches also come from New Jersey, and the Garden State is a recruiting focus for the 'Cuse.

We should note that Wafle's younger brother is 2026 four-star defensive lineman Luke Wafle, who also attends The Hun School. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Luke Wafle, rated as high as No. 70 nationally in his class by Rivals.com, secured a scholarship offer from Syracuse football on February 27 of 2024, per his X account.

Regarding the 'Cuse defensive line for the 2025 season, current seniors Fadil Diggs and Braylen Ingraham exhausted their college eligibility after the most recent stanza. Junior Michael Nwokocha has hit the transfer portal.

Numerous defensive linemen from the Orange's 2024 roster are expected to return. Additionally, in the program's large 2025 class at the high school level, there are a handful of three-star commits who play on the defensive line.

By extension, on January 1, three-star transfer defensive lineman Chris Thomas Jr., a redshirt junior at Marshall, announced via social media that he was pledging to Syracuse football.