The Syracuse University football team went 3-9 in 2025, dropping eight consecutive games after a season-ending injury to quarterback Steve Angeli. In the wake of that injury, SU's offensive productivity was dreadful. Redshirt sophomore Rickie Collins looked unprepared to play and freshmen Luke Carney and Joseph Fillardi were not developed enough to come in and take over either.

This offseason, Syracuse made sure to address the quarterback room, bringing in a group of experienced transfer quarterbacks to compete with and support Angeli. Amari Odom (Kennesaw State), Danny Lauter (Georgetown) and Malachi Nelson (UTEP) all have extensive backgrounds and experience.

Speaking to the media this week at the start of spring practice, head coach Fran Brown said he wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

"I can't get caught like we did last year. That was really bad of me not to have other quarterbacks ready." 

It's a smart position for Brown to take, as a more full quarterback room could have alleviated some of the pain in 2025, but it will also be interesting to see how it all works out.

In the era of the transfer portal, will three quarterbacks be willing to stay into the future if they aren't playing? Or will the losers of the QB competition up and leave after the season, forcing Brown to bring in a new crop of QBs again for the 2027 campaign? Regardless, that's a future problem. The 2026 Orange are in a better spot now with this newfound depth.

The former top overall recruit in the country for the class of 2023, Nelson has played for three schools in three seasons.

He spent the 2023 season at Southern California, earning a redshirt after playing in just one game. He played three games in 2024 at Boise State, going 12-of-17 for 128 yards and an interception. And he played six games at UTEP in 2025, throwing to a 54.7 percent completion percentage with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.

He'll have two years of eligibility left for the Orange.

A Connecticut native, he'll also come to Central New Year with two years of eligibility remaining.

He started 10 games for the Hoyas in 2025, throwing for 187.1 yards per game and 11 total touchdowns. Not much of a runner, he only had four rushing attempts all season.

Interestingly enough, his grandfather was a manager for the 1959 Syracuse national title team.

Georgetown went 6-6 at the FCS level.

Odom will come to Syracuse with two years of eligibility as well after putting together a dynamite year at Kennesaw State. He threw for 2,594 yards and 19 touchdowns, also running for 347 yards. He completed 64.9 percent of his passes and also had eight interceptions.

Kennesaw State won 10 games and went 7-1 in Conference USA. They won the league title game over Jacksonville State.

He played two seasons at Wofford, but only accumulated one year of eligibility there.

At Wofford, he had 1,565 passing yards and seven touchdowns in 2024.

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