Is OU's Mateer being wrongfully disrespected ahead of 2026 season?

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Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer has returned for one last ride in college football, and while he helped OU’s offense improve in 2025, he’s looking to lead the way for another step forward in 2026 offensively.

The Sooners have had 21 different QBs (including Mateer) start at least one game over the past 27 seasons (356 total games), and Mateer will hope to go wire-to-wire in 2026, after missing just one start a season ago. Over the 131-season history of OU Football, the starting quarterback position has turned into a white-hot spotlight, as each new full-time starter is tasked with following the greats that came before him and continuing the legacy of “QBU”.

The spotlight of being “the guy” at OU can often lead to criticism from outside, and one analyst believes Mateer is being unfairly criticized ahead of his redshirt senior season with the Sooners.

On3’s J.D. PicKell, the host of “The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell“, compiled a list of the ten most wrongfully disrespected figures in college football right now in his opinion. He had Mateer at No. 9 on the list, slotted between two familiar names to OU fans, USC head coach Lincoln Riley and Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel.

There were two versions of Mateer a season ago at OU. For the first four games of the season, he looked like one of the best players in college football, leading wins over Michigan and Auburn in the process. However, he broke his thumb against the Tigers, leading to his only missed start of the season against Kent State.

When Mateer rushed back to action, he didn’t look as good, though he claimed it wasn’t the healing hand that was holding him back, rather that he needed to get his eyes in the right place and improve at reading defenses. Despite some less-than stellar statistical outings, he began to round back into form late in the season, and arguably played his best ball since September in Oklahoma’s loss in the College Football Playoff against Alabama.

That tale of two seasons is the reason for much of the perceived disrespect, that circles Mateer’s name this offseason. However, he seems to be made up of the right stuff to deal with the pressure of being the starting quarterback of the Sooners. His leadership for the Sooners has been evident since he got to Norman, and he’s helped recruit players from the transfer portal to OU this offseason. Clearly, he has something that other players respond to, an important quality at QB.

In last year’s regular-season finale, after throwing three interceptions against LSU, and with many on social media calling for him to be benched, Mateer rebounded to throw two touchdowns, including the game-winner to send OU to the playoff. Sure, Mateer has his flaws, but how many Oklahoma quarterbacks over the last half-decade would have had the mental resilience to hang in and get the job done in that spot? Additionally, how many of those QBs would have earned enough trust from the coaching staff to even get the opportunity to stay on the field in that moment?

As the Sooners work this spring to set themselves up for a fall that can land them back in the CFP, Mateer’s ability, leadership, and grit will all be tested again this season. While he may be getting wrongfully disrespected by some this offseason, there are others that believe he’s the right guy for the job at Oklahoma, and that he can become only the second QB to bring the Sooners to two CFP appearances in his career.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Is Oklahoma’s QB getting too much disrespected heading into 2026?

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