in 2009, nwaneri and fellow guard maurice williams competed for the starting guard position opposite the returning vince manuwai. nwaneri won the job; williams was deactivated for much of the season before being released on december 5, 2009. nwaneri appeared in all 16 games, starting 13 of them. he was only credited with allowing one-half of a sack. nwaneri was also not penalized during the 2009 season.