Syracuse football recruiting: LB Malik Matthew commits to Orange

The recruiting momentum keeps going for the Syracuse Orange, as the program added commitment No. 9 for 2021: Bronx outside linebacker Malik Matthew.

Matthew is 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, so basically what you’re used to with linebackers under Dino Babers, regardless of system. He was just bumped up to a three-star prospect, he has offers from Boston College, Rutgers, Buffalo, Kent State and Temple, so you can assume that’ll probably get bumped up to three stars soon. Matthew attends Herbert H. Lehman in the Bronx, which happens to be the alma mater of former Orange head coach Doug Marrone.

Syracuse has been emphasizing linebacker help in the last couple classes, and that trend could continue with Matthew, plus some of the other targets on the board for SU, including (fellow NYC prospect) Sebastian Sagar, Jason Henderson and Austin Roon. Recent commit Derek McDonald could also wind up at linebacker as well.

As mentioned, Matthew makes nine adds for the class of 2021 so far. He’s the sixth defensive commit as Syracuse continues to emphasize that side of the ball with this class. He’s also the second New York addition, joining Jaelin Moss, whose rating was recently upgraded, and is now Syracuse’s top prospect.

Welcome aboard, Malik! Highlights below, for those interested.