Things might have taken a little longer to get to this point for Matthew Baldwin than expected, but as one of Texas’ best quarterback prospects and a stellar senior season, all of a sudden he’s in very high demand.

Baldwin committed to Colorado State in July when the Rams were willing to take a shot on the next man up in a traditionally potent Lake Travis (Austin, TX) offense. Clearly, other teams had kept him on their radar, choosing to wait and see what the returns were in his first full season as a starting quarterback, but the results speak for themselves and so has the confidence in several Power Five programs.

Just this past week, Kentucky and Minnesota became his latest offers, on the heels of Ohio State extending one as well. Such attention in the midst of the Cavaliers bid to repeat as state champions this season has certainly had an affect on Baldwin’s mindset as he finishes his senior year.

“Staying level is hard for me,” he said. “This is new to me - I haven’t been some big-time recruit for very long. It does bring me some added confidence on the field, really. The best thing to get out of it is on like a third down play when you weren’t sure you could do it, you’re thinking maybe I’ll have to take this myself, or maybe I’ll have to make the extra play.”

None of this is good news for the Rams, who till now probably felt as though they were coming away with a major steal for their 2018 class. If there is a silver lining, it’s that Baldwin said he hasn’t yet thought about scheduling official visits to any of the new programs to offer, and his commitment status is unchanged.

“Right now I have a great relationship with the staff there and I don’t want to destroy that at all,” he said. “I’m strongly committed to them right now.”

On picking up Kentucky offer

“They just had [Jarren Williams] who has been committed for a while decide to de-commit,” he said. “So they need someone else and they contacted me the other day. It’s kind of moved fast, but I like that they liked me enough to take a chance. I haven’t been up there and they haven’t really seen me in person so I’m really thankful that they’re that interested.”

On Minnesota

“That’s a huge one,” he said. “I’m really interested in them. I got to FaceTime with P.J. Fleck and he is an incredible guy. I’m not trying to say more about him than I would any other coach, but he’s someone I could definitely spend four years with. He just seems like an outstanding person.”

On Ohio State

“I think they liked me as soon as they saw me,” he said. “They told me a bunch of times that they think my tape holds up against anyone in the country and I’m thankful for such high praise from guys that are such big-time coaches. They saw that we came up as unofficial visitors, and I think they wanted to show me that they were very serious and went ahead and made the offer.”

Take nothing away from Baldwin, who is a terrific quarterback prospect, but his offer from the Buckeyes seems more of a contingency plan should something happen with five-star quarterback commit Emory Jones. The Buckeyes also offered Williams following his de-commitment from Kentucky, and wouldn’t expect him to want to come to Columbus as anything other than the only QB taken.

While the Buckeyes may be the biggest name in picture, it appears as though Fleck has made the most impactful impression on Baldwin. The Gophers could be a major threat to lure him away.