Breaking down the biggest risers in the updated On300 rankings

On3 released its latest iteration of the 2024 On300 recruiting rankings on Monday, and dozens of prospects across the country saw their stock rise heading into their senior seasons this fall.

A few, however, made particularly large jumps after the latest evaluations from On3’s scouting and rankings team. Multiple prospects jumped into the top-300 from outside the rankings completely, and a handful more moved up by more than 75 spots.

On3 Scouting and Rankings Assistant Cody Bellaire breaks down some of the biggest movers and why they made massive jumps since April:

4-star EDGE Cheta Ofili – Texas Tech commit

On300 Ranking: No. 55
Previously Ranking: No. 141
School: Sachse (Texas)
Scout’s Take: It only took one rep in a bag drill Under Armour Dallas camp for Cheta Ofili to make me say “Wow.” Ofili was explosive from the first second I saw him to the last. At just over 6-foot-3, 215 pounds with a freakish 6-foot-10 wingspan, he has absurd movement skills. He ran a 4.59 40-yard dash, jumped a 35-inch vertical and an absolutely ridiculous 10-foot-3 broad jump during the UA Dallas camp this past spring. This forced us to go back and analyze the film again to see if we could see these flashes on tape. And sure enough, we did. His first step combined with his understanding of hand usage as a pass rusher is incredibly nuanced for his age… He can also drop into zone coverage seamlessly and flip his hips and change direction effortlessly. Ofili does not look lost in space whatsoever and shows time and time again just how quickly he can close the gap to ball carriers. All in all, in a not-so-deep EDGE class Ofili has all the physical and athletic traits to potentially become one of the sneakiest top NFL draft prospects at the position for the 2024 class.

4-star QB Miles O’Neill – Texas A&M commit

On300 Ranking: No. 58
Previously Ranking: Unranked
School: Marblehead (Mass.) Hun School
Scout’s Take: Miles O’Neill is someone whose recruitment picked up mightily this spring after receiving his first Power 5 offer in May. This is when he popped up on the radar for us at On3 and we fell in love quickly. The production is impressive having thrown for over 2,500 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior, but what really stood out was his completion percentage which was north of 70%. Add his verified size at over 6-foot-4, 215 pounds with over 10-inch hands and we had ourselves a prospect. When evaluating his film you can see just how effortless his throwing motion is. The ball jumps out of his hand and he can get it up and out quickly. He has terrific pocket movement and is able to navigate inside and outside of the pocket comfortably and still throw strikes from outside the pocket. The physical and athletic tools O’Neill has paired with his natural arm talent were impossible for us to ignore. We felt this merited a monster jump in the rankings.

4-star safety Dashawn McBryde – LSU commit

On300 Ranking: No. 63
Previously Ranking: No. 194
School: Denham Springs (La.)
Scout’s Take: Dashawn McBryde was a player we tabbed as a “trending up” prospect after his impressive junior season. He put up some solid track numbers during his sophomore track and field season going into his productive junior football season and after tallying 9 interceptions we felt he deserved a spot in the On300. Fast forward to this offseason and McBryde did not let off of the gas pedal. Checking in at the Nike All 22 camp this spring at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, Mcbryde ran a 4.53 40-yard dash, 4.25 shuttle and jumped a ridiculous 36-inch vertical. He then showed up to LSU camp during the summer and replicated those testing numbers as well as dominating in drills and competition throughout the camp. McBryde is poised to continue his ascent and we would be silly not to continue betting on his development and progression.

4-star QB Ethan Grunkemeyer – Penn State commit

On300 Ranking: No. 176
Previously Ranking: Unranked
School: Olentangy (Ohio)
Scout’s Take: Ethan Grunkemeyer proved he deserves to be considered one of the best quarterback prospects in the country. He did this by showing off his skillset at the Elite 11 Finals this summer where he along with 19 other talented quarterbacks arrived in Los Angeles to compete for a chance to be named Elite 11 MVP. We felt that Grunkemeyer not only exceeded our expectations, he earned On3’s 3rd overall top performer for the entire event. His natural arm talent combined with an excellent physical frame and arm strength stood out in an extremely deep quarterback group. He was consistently impressive throughout the weekend and had tremendous ball placement on all three days. We expect him to take a big step forward in his development during his senior season and we would not be surprised to see him put up some gaudy numbers for Olentangy HS (OH). 

4-star WR Bryce Cain – Auburn commit

On300 Ranking: No. 187
Previously Ranking: Unranked
School: Mobile (Ala.) Baker
Scout’s Take: Bryce Cain has taken advantage of summer camp season and has put on a clinic at every event he has attended.The juiced up wideout from Mobile, AL is a total beast. The athleticism has always been apparent on film and on the track, but he decided to put a stamp on it by running multiple 40-yard dash times in the high 4.3/low 4.4 territory at multiple colleges this summer. That top-end speed combined with his suddenness and ability to get in and out of his breaks is special. Does he lack ideal size for the next level? Sure. Does he lack ideal production at this point in his high school career? Sure. But with his verified athleticism and the fact that the film tells us he can play bigger and more effectively than his size or current production would infer, we choose to believe his best football is ahead of him.

4-star OT Marcus Harrison – Georgia commit

On300 Ranking: No. 201
Previously Ranking: Unranked
School: Athol (N.Y.) St. Francis
Scout’s Take: Marcus Harrison is a mammoth of a human being that is absurdly strong and dominant at the point of attack. He showcased this brute strength during his junior track and field season where he really raised our eyebrows by throwing 54-foot-5 in the shot put and 158 feet in the discus. This sparked a deeper dive into Harrison where we gathered verified measurables and were able to get a better idea of how he projects to the next level. For his stature, Harrison’s build is truly impressive. For being nearly 6-foot-8, 330 pounds, his weight is distributed evenly throughout his frame and he has a very athletic lower half including thinner ankles. The size, the burst off the ball, the ability to finish and throw defenders out the club are just impossible to ignore which is why Harrison was deserving of a bump in the rankings. 

4-star RB Matthew Fuller – South Carolina commit

On300 Ranking: No. 283
Previously Ranking: Unranked
School: Jesup (Ga.) Wayne County
Scout’s Take: Matthew Fuller is a two-way demon of a football player for Wayne County HS (GA). His production at the high school level was always impossible to ignore. He ran for over 1,700 yards and scored 22 touchdowns as a junior and also totaled 90 tackles, 18 tackles-for-loss and 4.5 sacks on the defensive side of the ball. Fuller also ran a 10.79 100m dash as a junior and was on Wayne County’s 4×100 relay team that finished 5th in the GHSA 4A State Championships.

We have always been aware of the production, but when we looked at some of the track times he had run this spring and paired that with his physical development we sat there and asked ourselves, “are we overthinking this?” We turned the film on again with the updated information and kicked ourselves for not seeing it sooner. He’s a patient runner with tremendous vision and awareness. That skillset combined with his physical traits are what make him such an impressive prospect. 

4-star RB Kewan Lacy – Nebraska commit

On300 Ranking: No. 298
Previously Ranking: Unranked
School: Lancaster (Texas)
Scout’s Take: Kewan Lacy has always looked the part of a three-down back. And for us at On3, we had been waiting for Lacy to lay down some verified athletic measures in order for us to vault him into that next tier of running backs in the 2024 class. This past track season he ran a 10.79 100m dash which proved he has more than enough top-end speed to hit the homerun ball and split safeties at the next level. He also measured in at the Under Armour Dallas camp during the spring camp circuit at nearly 5-foot-11, 200 pounds and ran a 4.33 shuttle combined with a 32-inch vertical. That athletic ability at his size translates to the college level and beyond. Pair that with his production at the high school level last season, 1,002 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, we expect Lacy to continue his rise and develop into one of the top runners of the football in the country.