Oklahoma's John Mateer Named to Walter Camp Football Preseason Watch List

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John Mateer picked up another piece of national recognition this week, landing on the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s 2026 Player of the Year preseason watch list.

The Sooners quarterback is one of 50 players to watch for one of the oldest individual awards in college football.

The list includes 41 offensive players — 22 quarterbacks, 11 running backs, and eight receivers or tight ends — along with nine defensive players. Players from 38 schools and 11 conferences made the cut. Texas led the way with four players, Miami had three, and several programs (including Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Texas A&M) placed two each.

Walter Camp is often called the father of American football, and the foundation continues to recognize the top players in the sport. The Player of the Year award dates back to 1967.

The watch list will be cut to 10 semi-finalists in early November, three finalists in early December, and the winner will be announced in the second week of December after voting by FBS head coaches and sports information directors.

Oklahoma has a solid history with the award. Steve Owens (1969), Billy Sims (1978), Josh Heupel (2000), and Baker Mayfield (2017) all won it. The Sooners are tied with Ohio State and Notre Dame for the second-most winners all-time behind USC. In each of those cases, the Oklahoma winner was also a major factor in the Heisman race that same year.

Mateer being included makes sense given the expectations around him this season. He’s healthy again after the thumb injury that limited him last year, and the early buzz has him as one of the more important players on a top-10 roster.

When he’s right, he can push the ball downfield and create plays that elevate the entire offense. The question is whether the supporting pieces — especially the offensive line and run game — give him enough help to stay in these conversations deep into the fall.

He’s already on the Maxwell Award watch list as well, so the national awards circuit is taking notice. These preseason lists don’t mean much by themselves, but they do reflect the perception that Mateer has the talent to be one of the better players in the country if everything clicks.

The award has mostly gone to offensive players over the years, with quarterbacks and running backs dominating the history. Only three pure defensive players have ever won it. Mateer’s inclusion puts him among a large group of quarterbacks being monitored from the start.

For Oklahoma, it’s another early data point that the quarterback is viewed as a difference-maker. The Sooners need him to stay healthy and play efficiently over a tough schedule. If he does that, the individual recognition will take care of itself.

If the supporting cast improves and the offense takes a step forward, Mateer will stay in the mix for awards like this one as the season moves along.

Landing on the Walter Camp watch list is a nice nod.

Now it comes down to proving it on the field, the same way previous Oklahoma winners did.

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