J.D. PicKell shuts down all the early John Mateer hate

There's still about four months left until the Oklahoma Sooners kick off their 2026 college football season against UTEP on Sept. 6, but the hate being thrown at quarterback John Mateer has already begun. On3's J.D. PicKell, though, who's a well-known Mateer believer, has his back and is frankly confused about the early offseason narrative.

Mateer's first season with the Sooners after transferring from Washington State last year as a top portal prospect, frankly, did not go as well as most fans hoped. Still, the Sooners went 10-2 during the regular season and made the College Football Playoff as Mateer dealt with a surgically repaired thumb on his throwing hand most of the time.

College football world has forgotten John Mateer's stellar start at Oklahoma

PicKell went off in a video on those already hating on Mateer heading into the 2026 season as common sense screams the once-Heisman Trophy frontrunner deserves more respect than what he's getting right now.

"I do not understand the way we are talking about John Mateer right now," PicKell said. "I don't. I get it, the end of last year for my guy was not the way that I think he would have liked. It was not the way that we saw him start the year. But that's the thing. He started the year ripping and roaring. He was shredding top-30 defenses."

It seemed Mateer might not just live up to the hype, but exceed it all during the first four games of last season as he emerged as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. In Week 1 against Illinois State, Mateer broke Baker Mayfield’s record for most passing yards in an OU debut with 392.

That was against an FCS defense, but then a week later, Mateer scored three touchdowns to lead the Sooners past Michigan in a top-15 battle between college football blue bloods. The Wolverines ultimately finished the season 23rd in the country in total defense.

On the road against Temple in Week 3, Mateer again scored through the air and on the ground for the third game in a row. He did the same thing in his SEC debut against Auburn as he out-dueled former OU quarterback Jackson Arnold. Down 17-16 with 7:08 left, Mateer had what seemed like a Heisman moment when he marched his offense down the field and scored what would be the game-winning touchdown on a nine-yard run that required him to plow an Auburn defender.

It turned out Mateer had broken his right thumb during the game but still finished the comeback as his teammates didn't even know their QB1 was dealing with an injury.

The rest of Mateer's season, though, at least individually, was derailed after that injury. He missed just one game after having surgery, but it was clear Mateer was never the same. Mateer didn't admit during the season the injury was an issue, no matter how often he was asked, but finally this spring he slipped it was a hindrance.

Ultimately, Mateer finished Year 1 as a Sooner with 2,885 passing yards and 14 touchdowns with 431 rushing yards and eight more scores. He felt he wasn't ready for the NFL yet after that showing, so Mateer returned to OU for his final college season.

In 2026, not only will Mateer hopefully be healthy, he has another year in offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle's system under his belt, he's already endured an SEC gauntlet and he has more talent around him than ever before, especially along the offensive line and at wide receiver.

Read more: A way-too-early 2026 Oklahoma depth chart prediction after spring camp

"When he was healthy, this dude was one of the best quarterbacks in college football," PicKell said. "We're just dismissing what September was because it was a long time ago? Miss me with all that. Can we have a little bit more of a memory than a goldfish here, college football world? Can we not like remember what we saw that first month of the season? He was playing with nine fingers and no run game, dude (the rest of the season). ...

"For me, John Mateer, I think should be getting a lot more juice heading into next season. I'll say this, I will not be surprised in the slightest if he's a top-10 quarterback in college football next season when it's all said and done."

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