Top 5 commitments from past week in college football recruiting (July 17-23)

2. 5-star wide receiver Mike Matthews to Tennessee

Alabama landed the 13th-ranked wideout in the 2025 class over the weekend. Tennessee did one better, landing the 13th-ranked wideout in the 2024 college football recruiting class this past weekend thanks to the commitment of Mike Matthews.

Matthews is out of Georgia and is 6-foot-1, 180 pounds. Tennessee football is building one of the best offensive programs in college football, which likely appealed to Matthews. How could it not?

Anyone watching the Vols in 2022 that plays a skill position could be sold on playing in that offense. Matthews is a perfect fit for the big-play offense Tennessee wants to be. He averaged 21 yards per reception and had more than 1,000 yards receiving as a high school junior.

1. 5-star running back Taylor Tatum to Oklahoma

Running backs might be losing their value when it comes to NFL free agency, but they are still super important in college football.

That’s why the most important college football recruiting commitment from the past week was the Oklahoma Sooners getting a pledge from five-star running back Taylor Tatum.

Tatum is the No. 1 overall running back in the 2024 class. He’s ranked 31st overall via the 247 Sports composite rankings and getting a player like that out of Texas is huge for the Sooners.

USC was heavily involved. Michigan was too and even got a crystal ball at one time. However, Oklahoma pulled away in the end and got one of the biggest commitments of Brent Venables’ early head-coaching career.