Oklahoma Sooners’ redshirt junior QB John Mateer feels the heat as the Sooners fight for a CFP spot. With head coach Brent Venables having too much on his plate, another warning sign popped up about Mateer. There were moments he seemed held back, not firing on all cylinders. With OU (7-2, 3-2 SEC) right on the CFP bubble, the quarterback got to hit the field confident and fearless.

On the November 13th episode of the Cover Crimson podcast, the lead anchor at SEC Network, Dari Nowkhah, was invited. The host was asked to share his thoughts about Mateer before the Alabama face-off. Mateer’s 2025 journey has been no less than a rollercoaster ride. The analyst put the spotlight on one of his flaws, “When he broke the thumb and he missed the game, and then he came back really in every subsequent game, he looked very hesitant to run the football. He was slow. He was not decisive. It was almost like he was being overprotective.”

Mateer sat out just one game, Oklahoma’s blowout of Kent State in Norman. The quarterback was back under center against Texas, just 17 days after surgery. If we take a look at his stats, we can relate to what Nowkhah wanted to highlight. He hit his season high in the season opener against Illinois State, completing 30 of 37 passes for 392 yards and three touchdowns. In the Auburn game, when Mateer got hit, he completed 24 of 36 passes for 271 yards. However, post that he is yet to cross the 250-yard mark.

He racked up 202 yards against Texas, 150 yards against South Carolina, 223 yards against Ole Miss, and 159 yards against Tennessee. “If he is able to run the football, it makes him a thousand times more dangerous. If he’s one-dimensional, that’s it’s probably not the quarterback you want in a situation like this,” Nowkhah did not mince his words. After returning from surgery, Mateer had the worst game of his career and threw three interceptions in a loss against the Longhorns. 

Before surgery, he was dealing, 67.4% completions and 279 yards per game in his first four outings. Since coming back, just 58%, 192 yards a game, and a 1-2 skid, barring the Tennessee game. Against the Vols, Mateer completed 19 of 29 for 159 yards, along with one interception and got sacked thrice. Mateer’s surgery is well in the rearview. Now he needs to crank up the self-belief. More so, because his NFL future is already drifting into the danger zone.

Mock NFL Draft buzz puts John Mateer under the microscope

USA TODAY dropped its way-too-early 2026 mock draft. Analyst Ayrton Ostly has Denver Broncos rolling the dice on Mateer. He’s racked up 1,940-plus yards, but with just eight TDs and seven picks, it leaves room for a lot of dilemma. Does Sean Payton take a swing at a QB with an injury history and a 63.8% clip? Todd McShay has already shown the red signal. 

“He needs another year. Let’s rinse, refine, repeat in the offseason. Let’s get that thumb ready. Come back and get him with a quarterback coach who can do some of the things. Whether it’s Baker, whether it’s reaching out to Mahomes to help him with some of the things that those guys did post-college to become the players they are in the NFL,” said the analyst on his podcast. Apparently, Mateer isn’t the only one tightening up. His coaches bubble-wrap their quarterback, too.

The Sooners escaped with a 33-27 stunner against Tennessee. Protecting a 26-17 lead, John Mateer’s first-down pass was picked by Edwin Spillman to jump the route and snag it, sparking a rally threat that could’ve wrecked Oklahoma’s playoff push. In the post-game presser, Ben Arbuckle took the blame on himself. “Yeah, at the end of the day, that was my fault,” said the coach. Time for Mateer to step up, own the moment, and attack the rest of the season with swagger.