Josh Pate has concerns about John Mateer in 2026

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The Oklahoma Sooners made it to the College Football Playoff in 2025, despite being mostly carried by their defense and special teams. Though the offense was better than it had been a year ago, OU still lagged behind in that department.

One reason that the Sooners didn’t have overwhelming offensive success was the thumb injury to starting quarterback John Mateer. After following offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ben Arbuckle over from Washington State, Mateer looked like the Heisman Trophy favorite after the first month of the season. However, he broke his thumb against Auburn and had to have hand surgery mid-season.

After missing a game, Mateer rushed back to action, and he didn’t play as well as a result. The entire offense, which was far too Mateer-centric already, saw its production dip as its leader didn’t have the same ball placement ability that he’d had in September. OU made it to the CFP, but the Sooners bowed out in the first round.

Now, Mateer returns to lead the Sooners for one final season in 2026. With an up-and-down season in the rearview, he’s been working hard to improve for this year. However, some still have concerns about which version of the Oklahoma QB we’ll see in the fall.

Josh Pate, the host of “Josh Pate’s College Football Show“, discussed his level of confidence in a few SEC quarterbacks for this year, including Mateer. He still has faith in Mateer’s ability, but questions if he’ll play more like he did in September, or more like the version of Mateer that we saw in October and November.

“I would say my confidence level is medium with him,” Pate said. “I don’t know if you could fully determine which (version) is which. Can we fully know the truth with him? Also, I feel there is a lot of variance down to down when you just have the release that he has. I’m not knocking it. I knew the release that he had last year when I bet him to win the Heisman.”

Mateer said last week that he knows he needs to become a “better quarterback“, and multiple coaches have already spoken about the work he’s put in since the playoff loss. Consistency often eluded him down the stretch last season, but he’s capable of making the kind of jaw-dropping plays that had everyone talking about him last September.

Everyone around the program raves about Mateer’s mindset, his leadership, and his work ethic, and there was no doubt that the Sooners wanted him back in 2026. They’ve got their guy back under center for one last year, and he’s doing the work this spring to make the most of it this fall.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: What are Josh Pate’s concerns about Oklahoma’s QB this year?

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