Hoosiers Continue the Hot Recruiting Weekend, Land Big OL Matthew Bedford
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Matthew Bedford became the 5th member of the 2019 recruiting class for Indiana on Saturday.
Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle
The Indiana Hoosiers continued their hot recruiting weekend by landing their second commitment in as many days on Saturday, as six-foot-five 260-pound offensive lineman Matthew Bedford out of Cordova, Tennessee committed to IU. Bedford is a three-star recruit and held offers from seven schools including Indiana and Memphis, but was on the radar of many other big time programs. He is the fifth commitment of the 2019 recruiting class for the Hoosiers, and first on the offensive line.
Bedford projects as a tackle at the next level and is currently rated as the 81st best tackle coming out of high school. Indiana is getting a very big, athletic body, with projectable traits at the bare minimum, which is a great addition to the class this early on. He looks big enough and limber enough at this point to stick at tackle in the Big Ten, but obviously he'll need to bulk up and improve upon his technique. His athleticism has really stood out so far during his high school career, and camps have really allowed him to showcase that open field ability and gather some Power Five interest. Cordova is basically an extension of Memphis, and Tom Allen has now landed another player from the city in the mid-south after landing Cam Jones, Jacolby Hewitt, and Jaylin Williams from the area in the 2018 class.
His main recruiters at IU were offensive line coach Darren Hiller and William Inge, but you have to figure this new pipeline that Coach Allen has set up had to have some sort of impact here as well. Offensive line is a priority in the 2019 class for the Hoosiers, and the attention will now likely shift to landing a couple of impact players on the interior of the line. Bedford fits the profile of a "fast riser" in recruiting circles, meaning he could have quickly shot up recruiting boards and improved upon his ratings with a strong high school season, so Indiana moving quickly here could pay off down the road.
This post was updated on 6/16 at 8:43 ET