Did Syracuse Football solve its quarterback problem in the offseason?

I’m old enough to remember when Syracuse started a lacrosse player at quarterback. If you are reading this, you are too, because it was last year. The season truly went off the rails after starting quarterback Steve Angeli suffered a torn Achilles in September against Clemson.

Heading into the 2025 season, Steve Angeli was a largely unknown quantity. He had captured the nation's attention in the College Football Playoff, filling in for an injured Riley Leonard for Notre Dame and leading a game-winning drive against Penn State. Still, he had only attempted 80 career passes before arriving at Syracuse. He was entrenched in a quarterback battle with Rickie Collins before winning the starting job shortly before the season opener against Tennessee.

As it turned out, the gap between Angeli and Collins was quite large. Angeli led the nation in passing yards before he went down for the season. Meanwhile, Collins struggled so much when thrust into the starting role that Brown was willing to insert walk-on Joseph Filardi into the starting lineup, who is at the school on a lacrosse scholarship. Even unproven true freshman Luke Carney saw a handful of snaps. With that trio under center, the Orange lost its final eight games to finish a dismal 3-9.

Angeli is back, but as we gear up for another season, all eyes will be on the rest of the quarterback room as we continue with our burning questions ahead of Syracuse's 2026 campaign.

Is the quarterback depth really improved?

The quarterback room got a makeover this offseason. Carney transferred to Houston, Collins left for Kennesaw State and Filardi is buried on the depth chart. Syracuse coach Fran Brown went out and landed experienced backups. Amari Odom arrives from Kennesaw State, ironically swapping teams with Collins. Malachi Nelson is now on his fourth school, most recently playing for UTEP. Danny Lauter provides additional depth after playing in parts of three seasons at Georgetown. None of them will conceivably push Angeli for the starting job, but who winds up as the backup will be of interest.

Odom stands out from the rest. For one, he will likely be Angeli's backup. Additionally, I think he will have a role in Jeff Nixon’s offense as a change-of-pace runner who can sub in on short-yardage situations as well. He rushed for 467 yards (excluding sacks, which the NCAA still counts as negative rushing yards for some reason) and seven touchdowns this past season. Fumbles were a problem, as he coughed the ball up 10 times, but he will be an asset in the quarterback run game. Not to mention, he led the Owls to a Conference USA title in his second season as the starter.

For fans of college football recruiting, Nelson should be a familiar name. He is the former No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class. With offers from all the top schools, he ultimately chose to play for Lincoln Riley at USC. He redshirted with the Trojans and transferred to Boise State for 2024 rather than sticking around the compete with Miller Moss. However, he lost the starting job to Maddux Madsen and barely played for the Broncos.

That led to another transfer, this time to UTEP. He struggled in six games at the helm, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns, before losing the starting job. Nothing he has done to this point has indicated he is ready to start at the Power 5 level, but this is a total dice roll on the prospect of him finally living up to the hype around him as a recruit. He has two years of eligibility left, so perhaps this is more of a long-term play by Brown to build some depth into his quarterback room.

Is this group better than the one that preceded it? Hopefully, we never have to find out. Syracuse looked strong offensively with Angeli at the controls. Fans want to see what he can do in a full season. At the very least, the previous starting experience gives the impression that Odom, Nelson and Lauter are better prepared to fill in, if needed.

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