Oregon Ducks Battling Miami, Georgia for Five-Star Offensive Line Recruit

The Miami Hurricanes, Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies and LSU Tigers join the Ducks in Matthews’ top five. Matthews revealed in an interview with Rivals’ Chad Simmons that Miami, Texas A&M and Georgia are the three teams at the top of his list right now.

Matthews plays high school football for St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida, so the Hurricanes are close to home. He said that money isn’t as big a factor for him as development and early playing time.

“Just a winning team. I come from a very blessed winning school,” Matthews told Simmons. “Going from a really good head coach to another really good head coach.”

The five-star made official visits to Nebraska, Florida, Miami, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Ohio State. He said he plans on visiting his top three schools and a couple more, so the Ducks will have to push to get him to visit Eugene.

How a Commitment Would Impact the Ducks

Matthews is the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2027 class, per On3, and the No. 3 player in the class according to 247Sports. Depending on where Matthews ends up in the final recruiting rankings, a potential commitment to Oregon could be one of the highest-ranked recruits in program history.

Lanning secured a commitment from another five-star-plus offensive tackle in the 2026 recruiting class. Immanuel Iheanacho is set to join the Ducks in the fall and has the opportunity to take on a big role early in his collegiate career. Oregon also brings in 2026 offensive lineman Tommy Tofi and three-star recruit Koloi Keli.

Four-star offensive lineman Drew Fielder and three-star offensive lineman Avery Michael are two of the five current commits in the program’s 2027 recruiting class. If early playing time is what Matthews is seeking, it might be tough to find at Oregon, but there would still be chances to play.

The Ducks have proven to successfully develop offensive linemen under Lanning and offensive line coach A’lique Terry’s guidance. Offensive linemen such as Josh Conerly Jr., Jackson Powers-Johnson and Iapani Laloulu were all former Oregon commits who developed and thrived with the Ducks.

Powers-Johnson became the first Oregon player to ever win the Rimington Award for the nation’s best center, before getting drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft. Conerly earned All-Big Ten first team honors in 2024 and became a first-round draft pick. Laloulu returns to Eugene for one more season, but is expected to get selected in one of the first few rounds in the 2027 NFL Draft.

Stiff competition within the Ducks’ offensive line seems to push players to get better. Oregon’s previous offensive line success may attract Matthews and help the program move to the top of his list.