Oklahoma's John Mateer Needs Reasonable Improvements Based on 2025 SEC QB Numbers

Would it be great if Mateer threw out Baker Mayfield or Sam Bradford numbers? Is it realistic? Improvements can be reasonable for the Sooners to have success.

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) throws during the Oklahoma Spring Game at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Last year, John Mateer navigated a hand injury to a mixed bag of results.

To some, his play was admirable given the injury and where Oklahoma landed — in the College Football Playoff — after going undefeated in November, capped by wins in Knoxville and Tuscaloosa. To others, his injury only served as a convenient mask for Mateer's decision-making and accuracy flaws.

Regardless, Mateer's production in 2025 serves as a starting point for a first-year SEC quarterback. His 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions do not remind anyone of some of the past greats to wear the Crimson and Cream at his position.

So how much does his production actually need to rise — realistically — for Mateer to be considered among the upper tier of the conference?

There are reasonable expectations that Mateer will be better due to the offense around him being better experienced within Ben Arbuckle's system, with a few rooms improving either through addition, subtraction, or a combination of the two.

But beyond the factors surrounding Mateer, the man himself has to be better if Oklahoma is going to exceed some preseason expectations. The question is: how much improvement does he actually need in terms of production?

Last year, SEC quarterbacks with two or more starts (thank Mississippi State's Kamario Taylor for that one) produced only six quarterbacks who threw for more than 20 touchdowns. Makes sense considering that nine of the conference's 16 teams had defenses ranked within the top 20 per ESPN's SP+ metric.

Mateer was sandwiched between Kentucky's Cutter Boley and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellars.

Quarterback	Touchdowns	Interceptions	Cmp. %	Y/A
Ty Simpson	28	5	64.5	7.5
Arch Manning	26	7	61.4	7.8
Gunner Stockton	24	5	69.7	7.5
Marcel Reed	25	10	62.1	8.4
Joey Aguilar	24	10	67.3	8.8
Trinidad Chambliss	22	3	66.1	8.8
Taylen Green	19	11	60.7	8.3
DJ Lagway	16	14	63,2	6.7
Cutter Boley	15	12	65.8	7.2
LaNorris Sellers	13	8	60.8	8.3
Beau Pribula	11	9	67.4	7.2
Michael Van Buren Jr.	8	2	62.3	6.7
Jackson Arnold	6	2	63.3	6.1
Kamario Taylor	5	1	55.8	8.2

Among the quarterbacks who passed for more than 20 scores, two appear to be outliers — Tennessee's Joey Aguilar with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions (two coming against the Sooners) and Texas A&M's Marcel Reed, who tossed 25 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. The rest kept their interceptions down at seven or below.

So, for Mateer to simply put himself in better standing among his SEC peers, he needs roughly 10 more touchdowns and to cut his interceptions down by four.

Is that achievable?

That answer depends solely on your personal opinion of his play. But what is clear is that a Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray stat line isn't necessary for the Sooners' success — though Brent Venables may argue that it would certainly make things easier.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, linebacker Kip Lewis | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

Only seven of those quarterbacks listed above (Mateer included), meaning the Sooners will be one of the programs within the conference with the benefit of an experienced quarterback within the SEC. That, coupled with the offense evolving around him, should lead to marginal improvement at the very least.

Can Mateer put himself in the Heisman race? Oklahoma's schedule certainly gives him that opportunity with a nice margin for error.

But for OU to achieve some team goals, Mateer's rise does not need to be meteoric, just steady with a sprinkle of efficiency.

That's not too much to ask, is it?

---

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.