John Mateer Enters One of the Most Pivotal Springs in Recent Oklahoma History

Sooners on SI will spotlight ten players who need a big spring to solidify their place on the depth chart, improve and/or help Oklahoma build off its 2025 College Football Playoff momentum. Each day, we’ll break down one player’s background, progress, and what’s on the line as Brent Venables’ team takes shape during spring football.

It's no secret that the difference between truly competing for a national championship or a similar outcome to 2025 — perhaps, even worse — hinges upon the offseason improvement of John Mateer.

The Sooners, whose November run earned them a spot in the College Football Playoff in 2025, were no doubt a flawed team. A superb defense that ranked in the top five of most major metrics carried along an offense that was stuck in the mud for most of conference play.

Much of that was due to Mateer failing to navigate life post-hand surgery. Mateer proved to be tough and earned the respect of the locker room by gutting it out despite obvious pain, leading to a confidence-torpedoing performance.

That's the hope, at least — that Mateer's poor play was more the result of him dealing with injury and not unchangeable player characteristics. If it were the former, then Mateer's spring appears to be one of the more pivotal springs of any Oklahoma player in recent memory.

Oklahoma Sooners, John Mateer — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer celebrates after a touchdown against Alabama in the CFP. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Baker Mayfield was an unknown commodity when spring 2015 rolled around. His heir apparent, Kyler Murray, had earth-shattering talent, but he was asked to lead Lincoln Riley's offense (plus, Murray was excellent). Dillon Gabriel was a seasoned college quarterback when he led Venables' first spring practices.

It is Mateer's spring that provides the most pronounced fork in the road for the Oklahoma program. Improve on your flaws, and the Sooners can dream about SEC championships or even a national championship.

If Mateer can't improve much — more specifically, he has already reached his ceiling — then 2026 will be another year where the defense will be asked to shoulder much of the load.

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There is actual hope that Mateer wasn't even able to show how good he could have been due to injury.

For him, his yards per attempt went from near-first down yardage on every pass, to barely over five yards during the weeks following his surgery. Ben Arbuckle was clearly hampered in the amount of plays he could ask Mateer to perform. The offense morphed into a conservative style that tried its best to limit turnovers and allow the defense enough rest to put its best foot forward.

There's also the reality that life in the SEC is difficult for first year players. Mateer has played over 30 games in college already, but last season was his first in the SEC. In recent years, a handful of great quarterbacks transferred into the conference and struggled in their first seasons. Names like Joe Burrow, Jaxon Dart or Jayden Daniels.

This spring can be a big determining factor in those reasons being legitimate for Mateer's trajectory.

Mateer's dynamic play should also be in a better place in his second season as Oklahoma's starting quarterback. In addition to the hand, he dealt with a knee injury that made his struggles worse. Gone were his opportunities to make teams pay with his legs during October and November.

His final two performances are great examples of what he is capable of and what he can clean up during spring.

Five total touchdowns (four passing) and four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown). Mateer showed an ability to throw downfield, make plays on third down with his arm and legs. This was more than likely due to him simply being healthier.

But the four picks (three coming against LSU) are what Mateer needs to fix. His 14-11 touchdown-interception stat line is an eye sore. Oklahoma quarterbacks are supposed to be explosive.

If Mateer can clean those flaws up and thrive with an influx of either more seasoned talent, or new names from the transfer portal, then OU could very well have dreams of a playoff run.