This offseason has been full of talk about how quarterback John Mateer needs to improve for the Oklahoma Sooners to succeed in 2026, but where exactly does Mateer need to better?
In his debut season with the Sooners after transferring from Washington State as one of the top portal prospects, Mateer was overall underwhelming while nursing a broken right thumb that required surgery midseason. He finished with 2,885 passing yards and 14 touchdowns with 11 interceptions while also rushing for 431 yards and eight more scores in 12 games.
Read more: John Mateer keeps giving Oklahoma fans every reason to believe in 2026
Five of Mateer's stats in particular stand out from last year that have to improve this season for him to give his team a chance at an even more successful 2026.
Where John Mateer needs to be better for the Sooners
Interceptions
Duh. This is the most obvious stat that has to be better in 2026. Mateer threw 11 interceptions compared to only 14 touchdowns last season. That’s almost one every game.
Only three other starting quarterbacks in the SEC last year threw more picks than Mateer, but they all also had more touchdowns than him. If Mateer really is one of the best quarterbacks in the conference, this number needs to get cut down to about seven as a reasonable mark.
OU’s defense will be elite again and win games for the Sooners, but the only thing that could interfere with that would be more short fields with less time between drives.
Completion percentage
This could solve all of Mateer’s other issues as a passer if his completion percentage saw an uptick, and it should after studying film with Sam Bradford and being able to grip a ball correctly with a healthy thumb.
Mateer had career-worst 62.2% completion percentage last season, compared to 64.6% in 2024 at Washington State. Really not a catastrophic fall, but that number needs to be above 65% for Mateer to be considered an elite quarterback. Even that 3% is a difference in a lot of lost opportunities for the Sooners, especially with speedy receivers like Isaiah Sategna III and Trell Harris who could turn every completion into a big play.
Yards per passing attempt
Speaking of big plays, the Sooners didn’t have many of them last season as Mateer averaged 7.3 yards an attempt, which ranked 11th in the SEC. That mark was also a career-low for Mateer after it was 9.0 in 2024, albeit against much weaker defenses. The Sooners would be happy if that number was even just bumped above 8.0 in 2026.
With hopes of more time behind a more experienced offensive line and new talent at receiver, Mateer should be able to look downfield plenty, but he also tended to overthrow deep targets last year. Again, a more accurate Mateer could go a long ways in improving this stat. If not, fans will be infuriated by the offense again for not being able to make game-changing plays as even more pressure is put on the defense to flip the script.
Rushing attempts
There were times early last season that it seemed like offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle was trying to force carries to Mateer (see Michigan), even if just to make up for poor run blocking by adding an extra blocker, but then Mateer was less effective in the running game after his thumb injury. Whether Mateer’s rushing production felt forced or not, there’s no denying OU’s offense was much more efficient when he got more carries and that’s really what makes him special.
When Arbuckle and Mateer were at their best in 2024, Mateer had 178 carries. He had 149 last season, so nearly three games worth of less attempts. Mateer was also less efficient with 2.9 yards a carry compared to 4.6 the season before.
You just read about three issues Mateer had mostly because of his inaccuracy as a passer. Although that should be better in 2026, it’s also just who Mateer is. What makes him such an exciting QB option is his legs, so whether fans are worried about him getting injured or not, he has to utilize his running ability to really be a great QB1.
Sacks taken
Obviously there’s only so much Mateer can do to help himself here, but he was certainly to blame for many of the 25 times he was sacked last season.
The Sooners return four starting offensive linemen from 2025 after starting three freshmen last season. That will definitely help keep Mateer upright, but he also needs to get rid of the ball quicker and see pressure coming better so the Sooners don’t get behind the sticks and squander drives with one massive loss.
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