The Texas A&M football team has been a mecca for five-stars in this recruiting cycle. With six five-star players already committed, a couple more look like they’re getting in line to play football at Texas A&M. Those players are Shemar Stewart and Jacoby Mathews.
The former, Shemar Stewart, looks like a lean toward Texas A&M and is expected to announce his commitment sometime in February. Every 247Sports crystal ball that has been submitted predicts him to land in College Station, though Miami is still in the running for him as well.
The latter in Jacoby Mathews, however, is a player who may not seem like as much of a lock to go to A&M. Matthews has eight crystal ball predictions — five of them see him landing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
A commitment from five-star S Jacoby Mathews seems like it would be too good to be true
I’d like to preface this entire section by admitting something. I almost always use 247Sports’ recruiting rankings but because they have Jacoby Mathews listed as a four-star safety, I’m switching over to rivals here.
Rivals has Mathews listed as a five-star safety and the second-best player at his position in the country. Flipping back to 247Sports, here’s a little snippet about Mathews by Southeast Recruiting Analyst Andrew Ivins.
"A big-framed athlete that looks more like a linebacker than he does a safety. Has spent the past couple of years doing a little bit of everything on Friday nights. Can get the job done as a run-first quarterback at the high school level, but future is on the defensive side of the ball. Changes directions extremely well for a player that could eventually carry 215 pounds or more."
Mathews is yet another player who is already built like an SEC starter. Without enrolling early, however, he’d likely learn for a year under veteran safety Demani Richardson before stepping into the spotlight.
That said, his commitment is trickier than that of Shemar Stewart. There are a handful of players who are leaning toward LSU but have shown hesitance toward new head coach Brian Kelly. Jimbo Fisher has longer and more established relationships which should help the Aggies land Mathews.
That said, this will be one of the more interesting recruiting battles to watch over the next few weeks.