Recruiting websites update regularly -- things aren't always set in stone.
Josiah Wallace is an offensive tackle in the 2027 recruiting class who officially committed to Northwestern earlier this month. At the time, it didn't really make headlines because the recruiting websites hadn't ranked him yet.
Now, things are different. On Rivals, Wallace's profile is still "unclaimed" which essentially just means he's unranked. But 247Sports has officially slapped a three-star ranking on him, something that probably shouldn't be a surprise.
One issue people tend to have when evaluating recruits is that they both trust these websites too much and also don't understand how they work. It's not like there's a set time of year where the top brass from Rivals sits down and ranks every prospect in the upcoming class, never to be altered.
It's a gradual process with many updates, and things change. These are high school kids who are growing and developing on the field. First, coaches around the country take notice. Then, these websites start to take note of the interest players are receiving.
That whole process takes time, and the moral of the story is that college programs always have a far better evaluation of players than the general public does. Their actions drive the decisions made by these websites.
In the case of Wallace, this ratings boost was fairly predictable. According to 247, he also had offers from Cincinnati, Kansas State and Purdue. If a player has offers from multiple power-four schools, then he should probably not be an unranked prospect. Rivals and 247Sports are typically going to fix that eventually, and that's what has happened with Wallace.
The risk for Northwestern is that interest in him picks up even more and he gets poached by a better football school. But he's still just a three-star, and the 'Cats got to him early and secured a commitment. The odds of him bailing on that feel low, but you can never count that out.
Obviously, it's difficult to project what this addition will mean for the program in the future. Standing at 6-foot-8 and already weighing 300 lbs, though, Wallace certainly has the frame to do big things at the next level.
The Illinois native (which also likely aided NU in his recruitment), is now the No. 17 player out of his home state, according to 247, and the No. 48 tackle in his class.
Northwestern has made its money in recent seasons developing offensive linemen. Currently, tackle Caleb Tiernan seems primed to be selected in the first half of the 2026 NFL Draft. The program has also seen the likes of Rashawn Slater and Peter Skoronski come through Evanston in the last decade. This is a good landing spot for a projectable frame like Wallace.