OU Football Recruiting | Sooners Pick Up Another 2013 Defensive Tackle Commitment

As first reported by SoonerScoop.com via the Houston Rivals site ($), Oklahoma has added their 21st verbal commitment in this 2013 class and their fourth defensive tackle in Matthew Romar (VIDEO). The Port Arthur (TX) product was in Norman this past weekend and by all accounts had a very positive visit, but wanted to take some time before making any kind of decision in the heat of the moment. Something which to any of us in or normal daily lives would make perfect sense, but to the average college football fan often incites bouts of panic when a player leaves campus without committing.

Evidently, Romar needed less than 24 hours before relieving the anxiety of said Oklahoma fans and becoming the newest member of the Sooners 2013 class.

While his commitment was not unexpected, many were predicting this prior to his visit this past weekend, it's welcome news for an Oklahoma team looking to take a full class of defensive tackles following the loss of three seniors.

As we told you prior to his visit, Romar is an active player on the inside who uses his hands well to keep blockers at bay and avoid getting sucked up into the flow of a play.

We also talked about the likely reason for Oklahoma's late interest being due to the fact that another of their 2013 defensive tackle commitments, Kerrick Huggins, is rumored to be a potential grade risk. That's certainly not to say Huggins' arrival potentially being in jeopardy is the only reason the Sooners got in on Romar, but ignoring the obvious talk that is out there would also be foolish.

At 6'3" 265 pounds, Romar is all but assured a redshirt year however he's a guy who is versatile enough that he could play tackle or end depending on how the Sooners could be looking to alter their defensive scheme. Even knowing that, he's still a prospect who could take another year or two before seeing significant time. He has all the tools, but at his position it simply takes time to develop those skills. Oklahoma and Jackie Shipp have as solid a track record as anyone of identifying players at the defensive tackle position so there is certainly some trust in their evaluation of a player of Romar's abilities, especially this late in the recruitment process.

It's also worth pointing out the odds of finding a high school defensive tackle who is ready to come in and contribute immediately for a program like Oklahoma, even considering what they're losing at the position, are incredibly rare. At the end of they day, recruiting is ultimately a game of risk/reward and few positions on the field are as volatile as defensive tackle.

Romar had a visit to TCU planned for this coming weekend, but according to the SoonerScoop story that has been cancelled. Prior to his commitment, Romar held offers from Baylor, Houston, Iowa State, Missouri, Texas Tech, and Tulsa among others.

Welcome to Sooner Nation, Matthew!