5/15/2023 football Edit

Midwest Spotlight: Prospects under summer microscope

Clint Cosgrove • Rivals.com

National Recruiting Analyst

This week, Rivals is taking a look at specific recruits from each region who we want to see this summer to help determine how the rankings should play out. Today we start with five players from the Midwest.

MORE COSGROVE: From the Film Room | Jalen Todd discusses recruitment | Interview with Notre Dame commit Teddy Rezac

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CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

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As the No. 20 recruit in the nation, Nwaneri falls inside the 32-player threshold of five-stars we typically have in each class. The Lee's Summit (Mo.) North defensive lineman had future five-star written all over him when I saw him at the beginning of last season, but even as highly as I thought of him then, he already appears to have developed at a faster rate than I could have anticipated.

The question for me has gone from should Nwaneri be a five-star to could he potentially challenge for the No. 1 overall player in the class? Seeing him this summer could determine a lot in terms of where he is ranked heading into season.

Nwaneri currently has five official visits scheduled to Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Oregon. His recruitment will be highly contested going into next football season.

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Roy currently sits as the No. 200 recruit in the 2024 class, and although the ranking is already lofty, his name is one that is frequently mentioned when talking to college coaches about the most coveted recruits remaining on their board.

We are plenty confident in Roy's ability to be a difference maker at the college level, but if he is as good as the college coaches advertise him to be, the Mukwanego (Wis.) standout could be a summer eval away from entering the five-star conversation opposed to the current conversation of where he should land in the Rivals250.

Look for Roy's top seven of Wisconsin, Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan State, Minnesota, UCLA and USC to battle it out for his signature come signing day.

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The four-star receiver has done nothing but impress every time I have seen him yet he has somehow managed to slightly fall in the rankings with each new release. The drop in ranking has much more to do with being ranked high early on – and new players entering the Rivals250 – than it does with the analysts' view of him as a player, but at some point his upside will likely warrant a rating and rankings bump.

I have very few questions remaining when it comes to the caliber of player I believe McClellan is and seeing a standout performance this summer could give us all the ammo we need to rationalize some upward movement.

McClellan has not released a top list but currently has official visits to LSU, Ohio State, Oregon and Tennessee on the books. While those schools appear to be the main contenders for his pledge, don't be surprised if other schools such as Notre Dame continue to be in the mix.

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Wingo was identified as a physical and athletic freak early on in his high school career, which earned him a five-star rating right out of the gate. His recruitment has also followed suit as he continues to be one of the most coveted uncommitted recruits in the nation with the likes of Georgia, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Missouri, Miami and others in hot pursuit.

The St. Louis (Mo.) University standout's upside has never been up for debate, but there are still some on the analyst team who have questions about his football-specific skill-set as well as where he fits positionally at the collegiate level. Wingo showing that his development has caught up to his physical and athletic ability could go far toward determining just how high he is ranked come our final rankings release.

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While Tennessee falls somewhere between our designed Midwest and Southeast recruiting regions, we will group it with the Midwest for the purpose of this week's feature. McIntyre is the lone underclassman on this list and the position he plays is a big reason for it. The Tennessee signal caller's recruitment has certainly become that of a five-star and top quarterback candidate with the likes of Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Alabama and Vanderbilt all making him a priority recruit.

While his current ranking as the No. 4 quarterback and No. 45 overall player is nothing to scoff at, everything I have seen thus far leads me to believe he is closer to being a top two player at his position and top 10 player overall.

A summer evaluation to reinforce that belief could go a long way toward determining just how high McIntyre lands in the 2025 rankings.