Most Oklahoma Sooners fans had never seen John Mateer throw a football until the former Washington State signal-caller announced his transfer from Wazzu to Oklahoma.
Since Mateer landed with the Sooners, though, those fans have heard plenty of good things. Few quite as big as a proclamation made on ESPN last week.
ESPN.com college football writer Adam Rittenberg placed Mateer as the fourth best quarterback in FBS football entering this season. He’s ranked just behind Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Drew Allar at Penn State, and Garrett Nussmeier at LSU. All three of those quarterbacks are returning to the team each played for last year.
Rittenberg asked various coaches and defensive coordinators across the sport for feedback. He combined their words and recommendations and came up with a list of the top 15 quarterbacks to watch this spring.
“He’s going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country next year,” an opposing coach told Rittenberg. “If that guy’s in rhythm, you can’t stop him. He seems like an elite competitor, and those quarterbacks scare me more than even the high-talent guys.”
Mateer threw for 3,139 yards passing with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 64.6% of this throws. He also added 826 yards rushing and 15 more scores on the ground. Those 44 combined touchdowns led all FBS quarterbacks.
If Mateer lives up to the proclamation, the Sooners should leap from 97th-ranked scoring offense 119th-ranked passing offense from 2024.
Oklahoma opens the season on Aug. 30 against FCS opponent Illinois State.
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