No. 1 OT Prospect Revealed in Updated College Football Recruiting Rankings

The 2027 college football recruiting cycle has warmed up in the first month of the 2026 offseason.

Several of the most coveted prospects in the 2027 class announced their college commitments well in advance of the early signing period. Most will not make their pledges until July or August of 2026.

One of the top uncommitted prospects in the 2027 recruiting cycle is offensive tackle Mark Matthews. The 6-foot-5, 300-pounder from Fort Lauderdale is the No. 1 offensive tackle in the class and No. 2 overall player in the cycle per 247Sports.

Matthews' interests are "warm" for Miami, Ohio State and Texas A&M as potential college decisions, per 247Sports. He unofficially visited all three programs during the 2025 college football season. Of the three programs, Miami has led the way in visits with three from Matthews.

The other three programs to receive visits from Matthews during his recruitment are Nebraska, Florida and Notre Dame. The former two were in the summer of 2025, while the latter was to the Fighting Irish's game against Purdue on Sept. 20, 2025.

247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins called Matthews an "athletic offensive tackle with the quickness and mobility to eventually man the hot corner at the game's highest levels" and said Matthews is "still far from a complete product after starting (his) prep career off as a defensive lineman, but has put extremely encouraging stretches on tape while facing stiff competition" in a scouting report he wrote in January.

Ivins' NFL comparison for Matthews was Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.

Matthews will bring some athletic versatility to whichever program he commits to in the next 10 months. As Ivins mentioned, Matthews has experience on both sides of the football as he played on the defensive line his first two seasons in high school. Additionally, Matthews helped St. Thomas Aquinas High School to a basketball state championship.

Rivals joined 247Sports in its rave reviews of Matthews in the newly released recruiting rankings on Thursday. It ranked Matthews as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the Rivals300 rankings, ranking him as the No. 4 overall prospect in the class.

Top OTs in the updated 2027 Rivals300 rankings‼️https://t.co/coCxIa8nSB pic.twitter.com/VOo3sOGPlE
— Rivals (@Rivals) February 27, 2026

Of the top 10 offensive tackle prospects on the Rivals300 rankings, only two have announced their college commitments: Cooper Hackett (No. 2, Oklahoma) and Kaeden Penny (No. 4, Oklahoma). Hackett is the only other prospect on Rivals' list of the top 10 offensive line prospects to earn a five-star ranking.