Sarasota (Fla.) Cardinal Mooney Top247 defensive lineman Elijah Golden is set to announce his commitment. He will do so today, Saturday, August 9 at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports College Football YouTube channel.
Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech are the four teams in the mix for the 6-foot-4, 275-pounder, who is 247Sports’ No. 112 overall prospect in college football’s 2026 recruiting class.
Golden is also the nation’s No. 16 defensive lineman and state of Florida’s No. 13 overall prospect. He played in the 2025 Navy All-American Bowl as a junior and is set to end his senior season at the 2026 Polynesian Bowl.
“Green front-line defender with the materials needed to eventually emerge as a force at the point of attack,” wrote 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins, who compared Golden to Elijah Roberts in Golden’s Jan. 11 evaluation report.
“… Tends to make the biggest impact with his engine as he will work vigorously to get through obstacles and then build speed in pursuit.
“Not exactly a precision rusher, but understands how to use his hands and can create an advantage on passing downs with his snap anticipation. Strong relative to his age, but needs to unlock more knockback power as that will help establish leverage more consistently. Finally started to show some signs of life with 10 sacks as a junior after being utilized in more of a reserve role as a sophomore.”
Golden has 40 offers to his name.
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He totaled 61 tackles (29 TFL), 10 sacks on eight quarterback hits, and a pass breakup over 11 games during his junior season in 2024 with Cardinal Mooney.