3 thoughts on Williams Nwaneri commitment to Nebraska football

Nebraska football fans have been waiting for the Huskers to add from the transfer portal, instead of subtracting, and the Huskers got a huge addition on Wednesday.

Williams Nwaneri, a 6-foot-7, 255-pound EDGE, ranked No. 6 overall in the 2024 class according to the 247 Sports composite rankings, and No. 1 among DL.

Nwaneri only played in four games for Missouri and had one sack. He will have all four years of eligibility. Jamar Mozee, his former high school head coach, clearly played a role in landing him.

When Nwaneri entered the portal on Thursday, he had a “do not contact” tag which tells you the player had a destination in mind. Turns out, that destination was Nebraska, and here are three thoughts on a massive commitment for Nebraska football.

An elite talent

Outside of Dylan Raiola, Nwaneri has the most NFL upside of anyone on the roster and it’s not close. 247 Sports compared him to Arik Armstead of the 49ers and projected him as a first-round pick.

When is the last time Nebraska has a defensive lineman drafted early? It’s been a while and that correlates with the Huskers’ success, or lack of it in the past decade. They had one all-conference player this season (Ty Robinson).

The identity of this program used to be dominant offensive and defensive line play. That’s what Nebraska needs to get back to and this is a nice step in the right direction.

Filling a big need

Nebraska needed to add some pass rushers. James Williams had five sacks last season and was second on the team. Ty Robinson led the Huskers with six sacks and will be playing in the NFL.

Jimari Butler also added two sacks and Princewill Umanmielen only had 0.5 but is highly sought after in the portal. That’s four of the most talented and productive pass rushers on this team going out the door.

Nwaneri is one guy. The Huskers need to add more to finish making over this defensive line. Nebraska needs a nose tackle and probably another EDGE.

Keona Davis, Nwaneri, Riley Van Poppel, and Cameron Lenhardt are a pretty good place to start. There is work to do but you have to like that group of four.

Nebraska football is planting its flag in Missouri

The Huskers are starting to do a really good job of recruiting the Midwest and there’s no denying the impact of Jamar Mozee.

First, his son, Isaiah Mozee, a four-star wide receiver, flipped from Oregon. Juju Marks was also flipped along with Dawson Merrit. Some of those guys are from Kansas but they are still close to Kansas City and it feels like Nebraska is starting to make a move on Missouri, and St. Louis.

Jamarion Parker was signed from St. Louis in the 2024 class. Keelan Smith was one of the top players from Missouri in 2023. Now, the Huskers have landed one of the top recruits in the history of Missouri.

Just watch the reaction of Eli Drinkwitz when Nwaneri committed to Missouri. He looked like he won the lottery. I don’t know what happened, but the Tigers’ loss is Nebraska’s gain

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