Mataalii Benjamin

Physical Profile

The frame is the headline: 6-7, 315 with the length to match, which is elite positional height even by tackle standards and gives him a natural advantage in the arm-length/reach battle against edge rushers. He already carries functional playing weight without looking soft, and there is room for another 10-15 pounds of college mass without costing him movement. For a body this tall he shows above-average movement ability climbing to the second level and pulling — that combination of height, length and mobility is exactly why the services re-graded him upward through his senior fall. The trade-off is the standard tall-tackle one: a high center of gravity and long levers that make pad level and anchor consistency the primary development items rather than athletic ability.

Play Style

A positional, length-first pass protector. He sets with width, gets his hands inside early and uses reach to keep rushers off his frame, shadowing laterally rather than trying to overwhelm — a patient, mirror-and-ride style. In the run game he is more of a positional/zone blocker than a road grader at this stage: he seals, he climbs, and he is comfortable pulling for a Lehi offense that averaged 150.5 rushing yards per game, but the consistent finish and torque you want on down blocks is still developing. The tape reads as a very tall athlete who plays under control and rarely gets beat cleanly, whose ceiling is gated by strength rather than by feet.

Strengths

• Rare positional length and mass at 6-7, 315 — 247Sports' Gabe Brooks led his evaluation with 'height, length, and mass,' and Greg Biggins called him 'a true tackle prospect' and one of the top offensive linemen out West, which is the difference between a college tackle and a guard conversion
• Uses his length effectively in pass protection — Biggins notes he is 'light on his feet' and 'does a nice job moving laterally and shadowing' rushers, meaning he wins with reach and mirror rather than lunging or grabbing
• Above-average movement skill for the size when pulling or climbing, which showed up in a Lehi offense that rushed for 1,547 yards behind him in 2025 while also protecting for 1,923 passing yards — he was a legitimate two-way asset in a balanced scheme, not a run-only mauler
• Proven at a high level of competition in back-to-back programs — helped Skyridge to a 6A state semifinal and then started at right tackle for a 6-5 Lehi team that reached the second round of the 6A playoffs

Areas to Improve

• Play-strength and power consistency — 247Sports' evaluation flags this directly. He wins with length and positioning now; he does not consistently displace or finish, and college edge setters will test his anchor until the lower body catches up to the frame
• Pass-protection technique refinement — hand placement, pad level and consistency in his kick-slide. At 6-7 he will be a target for inside counters and long-arm/bull rushes until his footwork and leverage are cleaned up, which is a normal 1-2 year strength-and-technique runway rather than a red flag
• Recruiting-profile note: the film library and national exposure lagged his actual play for most of the cycle (he was ranked No. 477 as late as the fall), so he arrives with less rep against elite national competition than a typical top-200 tackle

College Projection

Redshirt-likely as a true freshman at Utah, with a strength-and-conditioning year to add functional lower-body power and settle his technique. 247Sports projects him 'to the P4 level as an eventual multi-year starter at right tackle,' which is the right read — a year-two swing tackle/rotation role and a year-three starting job at right tackle is the realistic timeline. He is the exact profile Utah's program has historically developed well: a big-framed in-state lineman who gets built rather than plugged in immediately. He was Utah's top in-state signee in the class.

NFL Outlook

247Sports' Gabe Brooks projects him as a Day 3 (Rounds 4-7) prospect who 'could develop into a pro prospect.' That is a fair ceiling read — the length and frame are pro-caliber and cannot be taught, and tackles with 6-7 height and functional feet always get drafted if the strength and technique arrive. Whether he hits it depends entirely on the anchor development; if he adds power without losing the lateral mobility, a Day 2 climb during his junior/senior seasons is not out of reach, but the current grade is a late-round developmental tackle.

Best Fit

A patient, development-oriented P4 program with a strong offensive-line coach and a redshirt culture — precisely what he signed into with Jim Harding at Utah, who prioritized him and stayed on him through the Minnesota commitment. Scheme-wise, an outside/wide-zone and play-action base suits him best right now, since it lets him use length, angles and lateral movement rather than asking him to consistently displace at the point of attack. A gap/power-heavy downhill scheme would expose the play-strength gap before he is physically ready.