Texas A&M has secured a commitment from five-star offensive tackle Mark Matthews, boosting their 2027 recruiting class to No. 1. Matthews chose the Aggies over Miami, LSU, and Georgia, citing a strong connection to the school.
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Nobody is off to a hotter start in the 2027 class than Texas A&M. That momentum continued Friday when the Aggies landed a commitment from five-star offensive tackle Mark Matthews.
Matthews, who committed live on CBS Sports' YouTube channel, picked Texas A&M over Miami, LSU and Georgia.
"It just feels like home away from home," Matthews told 247Sports' Tom Loy, moments after slipping on a black Cowboy hat.
It's a heavyweight recruiting win for the Aggies, who beat out local favorite Miami to land Matthews, who goes to school just 30 minutes away from Coral Gables. The Hurricanes were considered the frontrunner for much of Matthews' recruiting process, but Texas A&M surged down the stretch.
The addition of Matthews lifts the Aggies to No. 1 overall in the 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking for the 2027 cycle.
Ranked as the third overall prospect in his class, Matthews is Texas A&M's sixth commit to rank within the top three of their position rankings for the cycle.
"Everyone wants him, and that's because he's one of the few guys in the class that has the chance to be a left tackle," 247Sports National Scouting Director Andrew Ivins said.
This is what the Aggies are getting in their new five-star tackle commitment.
Few things are more important for an offensive tackle than their ability to bend.
Winning the down-to-down battle on the edge is about leverage. Pass rushers need bend to dip under blocks at high speeds and maintain stability. Offensive tackles need hip and knee flexibility to maintain their stance in a kick-slide to preserve power and balance against the defender.
There isn't an offensive tackle in the 2027 class that bends quite like Mark Matthews.
Just watch the No. 3 overall player in the country win a limbo contest at a recruiting event.
My back cracked just watching that video.
Matthews, all 6-foot-6, 300 pounds of him, made it look easy.
That functional athletic ability is one of the most intriguing things about Matthews.
Mark Matthews chose Texas A&M because he felt it was a 'home away from home.'
Mark Matthews' commitment elevates Texas A&M's 2027 recruiting class to the No. 1 spot nationally.
Mark Matthews was also considering Miami, LSU, and Georgia before committing to Texas A&M.
Texas A&M surged in the recruiting process, overcoming Miami's frontrunner status to secure Matthews' commitment.
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He wasn't always an offensive tackle. He wasn't even always a football player; he spent most of his time on the basketball court. Matthews didn't begin playing the sport until his freshman year at Florida powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas.
Matthews was supposed to play junior varsity as a ninth grader. That didn't last long. He got the call-up to varsity the day before St. Thomas' season opener.
That football journey actually began on defense. It's what he played as a freshman. One year later, he began his sophomore season with a sack in St. Thomas' season opener against Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High School in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
Once Matthews began playing offense, he emerged as close to ideal as an offensive tackle prospect gets.
When Ivins watches Matthews, he sees Tristian Wirfs, or at least the traits that made Wirfs such an intriguing four-star prospect coming out of high school.
Back then, Wirfs stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 290 pounds. An Iowa signee at the Navy All-American Bowl, Ivins said Matthews and Wirfs' measurements are very similar. Height, weight, hand size and length -- Matthews compares very favorably.
But what Ivins will always remember about Wirfs is watching him do a handstand walk at the All-American Bowl check-in. It's a freakish athleticism at his size that's made Wirfs one of the NFL's best tackles. It's also a trait that makes Matthews so fascinating, even if he's reasonably new to the position.
"You see all this upside, all this loads of potential, and just like with all these other, you know, high-profile athletic big men, there are going to be lumps and growing pains," Ivins said. "But he flashes an elite kick step. He's got all the tools to be a guy that's going to go Day 1 three or four years from now."