Why LSU Football could end up missing on 5-star DB Jacob Mathews
By Zach Ragan
LSU football landed one of its biggest commitments of the 2022 recruiting cycle in late April when five-star defensive back Jacoby Mathews pledged to play for the Tigers.
Mathews’ commitment, however, didn’t last long.
The Louisiana native reopened his recruitment on July 30, just before taking an unofficial visit to Texas A&M.
Mathews, 6-foot-2/205 lbs from Ponchatoula, LA, is rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 2 safety in the country and the No. 3 player in Louisiana. He’s also rated as the No. 27 overall player in the 2022 recruiting class.
Why LSU football could lose Jacoby Mathews to a rival
Despite Mathews’ decommitment from LSU, the Tigers are still viewed as one of the favorites to land the stud safety.
Mathews recently spoke to Rivals.com about his recruitment and he said that LSU and Texas A&M are the two teams currently leading his recruitment.
The Aggies emerged as a major threat to land Mathews after the unofficial visit at the end of July (Mathews hit it off with Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher).
Texas A&M, however, actually isn’t the program that I think is the biggest threat to steal Mathews from the Tigers.
I think Alabama is the bigger threat here.
The Crimson Tide are part of the second group of schools that Mathews said are still in the mix. Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida State are also in that second group.
Mathews told Rivals that he’s not going to announce his decision until he signs in December.
And that’s where this gets interesting.
Mathews’ final scheduled visit before the early signing period in December is to Alabama.
That means the last coach he’ll see before he makes his decision is Nick Saban (Mathews will visit LSU the weekend before).
I think we all know that Saban would love nothing more than to steal a five-star safety out of LSU’s backyard.
Now, will he be able to pull it off?
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That’s impossible to know for now. But it should definitely make Tigers fans a bit nervous that Alabama gets Mathews’ final visit before signing.