Rutgers football made the cutdown for Jaelyne Matthews, the class of 2025 offensive tackle and future Under Armour All-American releasing his list on Friday morning.
A 6-foot-5, 273-pound offensive tackle from Toms River North (Toms River, N.J.), Matthews is already committed to participate in the Under Armour All-America Game.
The top nine programs represents the first cutdown in Matthews’ list. The nine programs are: Georgia, Miami, Penn State, Tennessee, Michigan, Maryland, Rutgers, Texas and Ohio State.
A number of programs including Boston College, Louisville, Miami, Nebraska, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and West Virginia didn’t make the cutdown. Nor did Colorado, who were a recent offer for Matthews and were thought to be very much in the mix for the coveted offensive tackle.
Rutgers was the first program to offer Matthews when he was a freshman. He attended the regular season finale on Saturday against Maryland.
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Top schools @RivalsRichie @RivalsDylanCC @RivalsFriedman @Rivals @On3sports pic.twitter.com/yStR3m3Co1
— Jaelyne Matthews (@JaelyneMatthew3) December 1, 2023
The Scarlet Knights are outright bowl-eligible for the first time 2014, a sign of progress within the program.
In early September, Matthews re-opened up his recruitment after previously having been committed to Penn State. He explained his rationale for opening things up again:
“I feel like I did it too quick,’ Matthews told USA TODAY’s High School Sports. “And I should look around a little.”