No. 1 OT prospect in the country commits to Georgia
The Georgia football program had an standout weekend in Oxford, throttling Ole Miss by 35 points.
The Bulldogs apparently did just as well on the recruiting trail. Word broke today at several sites that 5-star offensive tackle prospect Mark Matthews has committed to Georgia after decommitting from Texas A&M on Sunday.
The predictions initially were that the 6-foot-6, 305-pound senior, out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida, was headed to Miami.
His choice of UGA is gigantic news on the recruiting trail, tracking a late, way-under-the-radar close on a prospect who will sign next month.
He projects to become the highest-rated OT prospect Georgia will sign since Kirby Smart became head coach. That’s a higher prospect evaluation than luminaries such as Amarius Mims, Broderick Jones, current freshman OT Ekene Ogboko and Andrew Thomas, among others.
Matthews now becomes the third 5-star prospect in the 2027 UGA class. He also now surpasses 5-star RB Kemon Spell to become the highest-rated recruit among Georgia’s 25 high school commitments for this cycle.
This decision also bumps the Dawgs from No. 10 to No. 5 nationally in the 247Sports Team Recruiting rankings for this cycle. The Dawgs are now up to No. 10 nationally for the Rivals Industry Team Rankings.
Matthews also gives this class an overwhelming haul at OT this year. The Bulldogs already had two Top 200 overall prospects committed to play the position: 4-stars Kennedee Jackson and Kelsey Adams. Jackson is a Top 100 overall national recruit.
This 5-star commitment should be viewed in the same light as some of Georgia’s biggest OT recruiting wins of the Kirby Smart era.
The one difference? Matthews joins Mims as the only one of those talented 5-star players seen as the consensus No. 1 overall national prospect at the position.
When Matthews made his decision back in May, it came down to the Aggies plus SEC powers Alabama and Georgia. Miami was also in the mix there.
247Sports maintains a database of the highest-rated all-time prospects Georgia football, like every other school, has signed in program history.
Matthews now projects to become the sixth-highest-rated recruiting prospect that the Bulldogs will have signed in program history.
Who are the other five? That list goes: Justin Fields, Ellis Robinson IV, Nolan Smith, Elijah Griffin, Trenton Thompson and now Matthews.