2026 Syracuse Football Preview: Quarterbacks

In football, there are few things that can make or break a team's season more than its quarterback play. Case in point: Syracuse’s 2025 season.

In Steve Angeli’s four starts at QB, SU went 3-1 and scored over 25 points in every game. In the eight games after Angeli’s torn Achilles, the Orange went 0-8 and managed no more than 18 points in any game with Rickie Collins, Joseph Filardi and Luke Carney all seeing time at QB.

While there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Angeli will once again be the starter for SU, head coach Fran Brown does not want to rely on a tandem of young backups should he lose Angeli again. Thus, Brown has built a deep quarterback room ahead of his third season at the helm. Amari Odom, Danny Lauter and Malachi Nelson transfer in, Angeli, Filardi, and Rich Belin return, and Zaid Lott joins the Orange as a true freshman.

In addition to the experience in his revamped QB room, Brown brought in two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Ryan to replace Nunzio Campanile as the quarterbacks coach for the Orange.

Ryan served as a member of Tom Coughlin’s coaching staff and has mentored quarterbacks such as Eli Manning, Matthew Stafford and Cam Newton. His next task is to return SU’s QB play to its 2024 form with Kyle McCord behind center, and Angeli is the centerpiece of that.

The Big Man on Campus

Steve Angeli had big shoes to fill in his first season under center with the Orange. Replacing a quarterback who was drafted means there is some pressure, but when that quarterback also led the nation in passing yards, there is far more. To Angeli’s credit, before the injury, the QB had certainly met expectations. SU’s new gunslinger threw for over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns to just two interceptions.

Of course, there are always questions about health after a torn Achilles. But Angeli swiftly put those questions to bed.

“I’d kind of just like to focus on 2026. 2025 is in the past,” Angeli said early on in training camp. “I’m healthy. I’m good to go, really just looking forward to getting back out there.”

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While Angeli needs no reflection on his injury, Fran Brown sees it as a blessing in disguise.

“I hate to say it, but [the injury] was probably the best thing to happen to him and myself,” Brown said ahead of fall camp. “It was probably the best thing to happen to our program because we’ll be able to take off and go to another level.”

Brown and Angeli both hope the QB can stay healthy for a full year, but should history repeat itself, it is always good to have a backup plan. Or three backup plans.

The New Vets

There are no trades in college football the way there are in the pros, but ironically Syracuse and Kennesaw State swapped quarterbacks. Rickie Collins, who was recently named the Owls’ 2026 starter, left SU after a disappointing sophomore season. Meanwhile KSU transfer Amari Odom ended up in the 315.

Syracuse is Odom’s third destination. The redshirt junior spent his first two seasons, including his redshirt year, at Wofford before transferring to Kennesaw State ahead of last season.

Odom is likely SU’s second option after he earned All-Conference USA First Team honors in a strong 2025 campaign. The Inglewood, Calif., native threw for over 2,500 yards and 19 touchdowns to just eight interceptions after throwing just seven TDs and seven picks in his time at Wofford.

But it wasn’t just the stats the Orange liked; it was the wins. In Odom’s 10 starts, the Owls went 8-2. In the C-USA championship, Odom completed 26 of his 32 attempts for 246 yards and a touchdown, en route to a 19-15 Owls win and Championship Game MVP honors in the process.

Malachi Nelson is another journeyman joining the SU QB room. However, there was a point in time where it seemed Nelson would still be in college for a fourth season. The consensus five-star recruit out of high school was ranked as the No. 1 player in the class of 2023, according to ESPN. Nelson committed to USC to play behind reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.

But the hype never materialized for Nelson, who transferred to Boise State after appearing in just one game his freshman year. In his one season with the Broncos, the Los Alamitos, Calif., native served as a backup, appearing in just three games, all in garbage time minutes.

In Nelson’s most recent stop, he did get the starting job to begin 2025 at UTEP, and threw for four touchdowns in just his second game with the Miners. But across his next three starts, Nelson threw eight interceptions and ultimately lost the starting job.

While it is known that Angeli is ahead, Brown praised his dedication to the team, even mentioning his assistance in bringing Nelson in as a backup.

“He’s still willing to compete,” Brown said. “Steve talked to Malachi Nelson to get him to come here.”

Nelson certainly needs to do a lot to prove he still has the five-star talent, but with two years of eligibility remaining, he could possibly end up as the 2027 starter if he decides to stay in the 315.

Danny Lauter also joins the Orange via the transfer portal. The Greenwich, Conn., native returns to the Northeast for his final year of eligibility after four years at Georgetown. Lauter's college career started with a bang, throwing for a program-record 428 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to Lafayette in 2023. But Lauter did not see the field for the rest of 2023 and only made 14 total starts with the Hoyas across his three seasons.

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The Reserves

While Joseph Filardi expected to play inside the JMA Wireless Dome, he certainly didn’t expect it to come until the spring. The Dix Hills native was the No. 52 recruit in the nation for lacrosse, and walked on to the football team.

But lo and behold, Filardi appeared in four games on the gridiron as a freshman before suiting up for SU men’s lacrosse coach Gary Gait in the spring. The two-sport athlete’s best outing on the football field came in garbage time at Miami, when he led SU on a touchdown drive and capped it off with his lone TD pass of the year.

Rich Belin was a part of the same class as Filardi, but still has four years of eligibility after not appearing in any games last season. Belin was a top-15 recruit in New York out of high school.

Zaid Lott is the only freshman in the seven-man QB room. Lott has the measurables, standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 225 pounds. The three-star recruit originally committed to North Carolina in June 2024, but flipped to the Orange in March 2025, just two days after SU offered him.

Overall, it’s clearly Angeli’s job to lose, and he’ll likely have a reasonably long leash barring injury. After last year, Brown hasn’t ruled out the chances of another signal-caller seeing time in the backfield, but he feels the competition will fuel Angeli to produce.

“I think they’re either going to bring the best out of Steve or move in front of him,” Brown said after the first day of fall camp. “But I think they’re going to bring the best out of Steve. You’ll see a better Steve Angeli than you saw last year.”

Brown and Angeli feel the senior is up for the challenge, and even if he can’t, Syracuse fans have peace of mind with the depth behind their field general.

Find out how Angeli and co. are up to form for SU’s season opener against New Hampshire on Saturday, Sept. 5.