Why Williams Nwaneri is On3's new No. 1 overall prospect

On3 has released its updated prospect rankings for the 2024 cycle and there is a new prospect atop the On300: Five-Star Plus+ defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri. The Lee’s Summit (Mo.) Lee’s Summit North pass-rusher beat out Ohio State wide receiver commit Jeremiah Smith (No. 2) and Georgia cornerback commit Ellis Robinson IV (No. 3) for the top spot.

Nwaneri was ranked as the No. 2 prior to these latest rankings. He’s also one of 15 players ranked as five-star prospects ranked by On3.

“Williams Nwaneri moves to the No. 1 overall spot in this updated On300 in what is a fluid and wide-open race heading into the fall,” On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power said. “He’s the No. 1 overall prospect at this point in the cycle in large part due to his immense physical skills. I think he has an argument as the most physically gifted prospect in the 2024 cycle.

“He measured 6-foot-6, 265-pounds with elite length and arms that over 36 inches and an 11-inch hand. He’s an outstanding athlete at that size running an electronically-timed 4.98 40-yard dash.”

Nwaneri’s outlook heading into the fall

As a junior, Nwaneri racked up 22 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and helped lead his team to the state championship game.

That sort of production is something Power believe will continue into his senior season and well into his college career wherever he ends up.

“He’s ranked as a defensive lineman now but if we looked in a couple of years and he was drafted as a defensive end, it wouldn’t surprise me,” Power said. “He compares favorably at this stage to Travon Walker. Nwaneri is bigger, longer, more polished and more productive at the same stage. Walker continued to get better in college and that needs to be the case with Nwaneri as well, but I think he’s just scratching the surface. He’ll need to continue to improve but his natural tools and physical attributes put him into the pole position entering the fall.”

Latest on his recruitment

Nwaneri’s remained as the one of the most highly-coveted recruits in the nation since picking up his first offer. Now he holds offers from nearly every major Power Five program in the country.

Following a spring full of visits to numerous schools, Nwaneri took took official visits to Georgia (June 2), Oklahoma (June 9), Tennessee (June 16) and Missouri (June 23). He will take an official to Oregon on Sept. 22.

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), Oklahoma holds a commanding lead in Nwaneri’s recruitment at 79.6%. However, each of the schools he took visits to along with Oregon all seem to remain in contention according to On3’s Chad Simmons.

“What a June it has been for Five-star Plus+ defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri,” Simmons wrote in late June. “He kicked off the month with an official visit to Georgia on the weekend of June 2, then ended it with an unofficial visit back to Athens. The Bulldogs are trending, and that is one of the biggest surprises of June.

…Oklahoma looks to be Georgia’s biggest competition. Tennessee has not given up either. The defender out of Kansas City has an official visit scheduled to Oregon for September, but I am hearing he will be committed before then.”