It's fair to say Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer hasn't lived up to the hype as one of the best transfer additions in the country, but he still has the Sooners in the College Football Playoff and competing for their first national championship since 2000 after battling through an SEC gauntlet.
Ahead of the No. 8 Sooners hosting No. 9 Alabama on Friday night for a rematch in the College Football Playoff, Josh Yourish of FanSided's Saturday Blitz ranked all 12 quarterbacks leading the offenses in the CFP and it took a lot of scrolling before finally finding Mateer.
John Mateer ranked near bottom of College Football Playoff QBs
Yourish ranked Mateer all the way down as the No. 11 quarterback playing in the CFP ahead of only Tulane's Jake Retzlaff, who transferred from BYU during the offseason. That makes Mateer, at least according to Yourish, the worst Power Four quarterback of the group after being a Heisman Trophy frontrunner early in the season before breaking the thumb on his throwing hand.
"John Mateer was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the country at Washington State last season, but with maybe the best defense in the country at Oklahoma, he’s been asked just not to screw it up. Especially since he suffered a broken hand in Week 4 against Auburn, which had to be surgically repaired," Yourish wrote as he compared Mateer's stats pre- and post-surgery.
"His throwing hand injury hasn’t affected his ability to click through his reads or make the right decision with the football, which have both been problems for Mateer, but it has undeniably affected his accuracy, especially pushing the ball downfield. Now, some of the statistical discrepancies may be tied to playing all seven games post-injury vs. SEC defense, but even in the first four weeks, he beat Michigan and Auburn, along with Illinois State and Temple."
Yourish fairly ranked Mateer below most of these QB1s. These are some of the best quarterbacks in the country, after all. However, the most blatant disrespect came with James Madison's Alonza Barnett right ahead of Mateer at No. 10.
Barnett performed all season against lackluster Sun Belt competition and failed miserably in his only shot against Power Four competition in Louisville. Barnett has better numbers than Mateer and has even looked more impressive while considering his competition, but there's still no way OU fans would prefer to have Barnett behind center instead of Mateer.