Why Zion Elee is On3's New No. 1 prospect in 2026

There’s a new No. 1 overall prospect in Monday’s update of the 2026 On300, with EDGE Zion Elee moving into the top spot and earning his fifth star in the process. The Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances standout has separated himself as the top EDGE prospect in the 2026 cycle to this point. On3’s initial No. 1 in 2026, Jahkeem Stewart, reclassified to the 2025 cycle last month.

Elee debuted inside the top ten of the initial 2026 On300 back in March, with On3 being the first to rank him as a blue-chip prospect. He is joined by offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell (No. 2), quarterback Jared Curtis (No. 3), wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. (No. 4) and offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho (No. 5) within the five-star ranks.

Let’s get into what makes Zion Elee On3’s new No. 1 prospect in the 2026 cycle.

Zion Elee has rare physical and athletic traits

Physical tools are paramount when projecting top EDGE prospects and Zion Elee has them in spades. At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Elee has truly freakish length with arms that measure an absurd 35.5 inches. For context, his arms would be tied for the fourth longest out of the 81 EDGE prospects taking rounds 1-3 of the last six NFL Drafts.

Elee pairs his unique build with rare athleticism. He’s a top combine athlete who consistently runs in the 4.4 to 4.5 second range depending on the timing mechanism. Elee also has elite twitch and short area explosiveness with highly impressive vertical leap and broad jump numbers.

It would be more surprising than not if Zion Elee wasn’t torching the NFL Combine a few years. He could very well end up as a top 1% athlete at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds.

Disruptive on-field presence

Most importantly, Zion Elee‘s elite physical and athletic tools show up on Friday nights – in a big way. He first flashed for On3 as a sophomore at Joppatowne (Md.) High. Elee was dominant against a lower level of competition, racking up 13 sacks and 24 tackles for loss. The pure speed and length popped off of his sophomore film in a big way.

The Maryland native transferred to talent powerhouse St. Frances Academy in Baltimore for his junior season and has continued to up his game, all while playing a national schedule. He was the best player on the field for long stretches of games against Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and Duncanville (Texas) High – the nation’s top two high school teams in the On3 Massey Rankings.

Elee was constantly in the face of touted Alabama 2025 quarterback commit Keelon Russell. He blew around the edge on one play and strip sacked Russell, leading to a defensive touchdown. Against Mater Dei, he locked horns with Oregon offensive tackle commit Kodi Greene, arguably the top pass blocker in the 2026 cycle and came away getting the best of that matchup.

The film is littered with impressive get-off, freaky length and eye-popping closing speed. Those traits give him the ability to be a high level finisher in the backfield. Elee is also making technical strides, adding pass rush moves to his arsenal. He hit Greene with a few vicious swim moves to get into the backfield. We’ve also seen encouraging signs of play strength and the ability to convert speed-to-power.

Breaking down Zion Elee’s recrutiment

It should come as no surprise that college programs are lining up to pursue Zion Elee. The new five-star released a top five of Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State back in August. One team has made a particularly strong early impression according to On3’s VP of National College Football Recruiting Steve Wiltfong.

“Oregon is setting the pace early in the Zion Elee sweepstakes but there are several programs that will work to change that narrative as the process continues, ” says Wiltfong.

“Two visits to Oregon and the way the Ducks are recruiting him have him seeing a future in Eugene. He called his visit to Saturday Night Live in July the best one of his process and he was back to watch Oregon beat Michigan State. No program has connected with him yet on the level that they have.”

With that said, several teams are continuing to battle.

“He had a great visit to Maryland over the weekend and the local Terps will do what they can to keep him home. Tennessee, Miami and Texas A&M are emerging programs that could wouldn’t be surprising to see become major factors as his process continues.”

There’s a long way to go in the 2026 cycle

For as good as Zion Elee has looked to this point, it’s worth noting that we’re still very early in the 2026 cycle. Junior seasons are around the midway point for most prospects. Elee is likely just scratching the surface of his immense potential. He will need to continue getting bigger and stronger as he progresses to become a complete EDGE defender. The same could be said for many other top 2026 prospects.

There’s likely to be several challengers for the No. 1 overall spot. Quarterbacks Jared Curtis (No. 3) and Texas commit Dia Bell (No. 6) could have a say in the conversation for No. 1 with continued strong play. Offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell (No. 2) is another prospect with big-time tools and a very high floor.

While there’s sure to be challengers, Zion Elee has shown enough to vault himself into the top spot midway through his junior season.