Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer has his top target back in Isaiah Sategna III, and not only is that something most gunslingers in college football can't say, but it's also an underestimated advantage for the Sooners' offense.
On3's J.D. PicKell released a ranking this week that garnered a lot of attention of the top 10 QB/WR duos in college football heading into the 2026 season. The Sooners' pairing of Mateer and Sategna just barely made the cut at No. 10, but PicKell undervalued that those two have the proven experience and chemistry that most others on the list do not.
Ohio State's Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith obviously topped the list, but it's really a wash after that. The rest of the top 10 included, respectively, Miami's Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney, Texas' Arch Manning and Cam Coleman, Oregon's Dante Moore and Dakorien Moore, Notre Dame's CJ Carr and Mylan Graham, Texas A&M's Marcel Reed and Mario Craver, Indiana's Josh Hoover and Nick Marsh, Mensah again with Cooper Barkate, and LSU's Sam Leavitt and Trey'Dez Green.
Top 10 College Football QB/WR Duos for 2026⚡️
— On3 (@On3) July 7, 2026
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Oklahoma has one of college football's most proven QB/WR duos thanks to John Mateer and Isaiah Sategna III
Of the 10 QB/WR duos ranked, only four have actually played together before. That means six, all of which ranked above Mateer and Sategna, have never even completed a pass between each other in a game with either the quarterback or wide receiver transferring in this offseason.
And of the three other experienced QB/WR duos, only Sayin and Smith at Ohio State had better numbers last season than Mateer and Sategna. Smith was Sayin's lifeline during his freshman campaign with 87 receptions, 1,243 yards and 12 TDs. That accounted for nearly 35% of Sayin's passing yardage total last season.
Oregon's Moore connection at No. 4 completed 34 passes for a measly 497 yards and three TDs. Somehow that was enough to set high expectations for 2026. The other familiar duo was Texas A&M's Reed and Craver with 917 receiving yards and four TDs between 59 connections last season.
Then there's Mateer and Sategna who present no doubt there's chemistry there for the utmost production. The two joined forces in Norman last year after Mateer transferred from Washington State and Sategna came from Arkansas, where he was underutilized for three years. Even through Mateer's injury and disappointment at times, the duo jolted life into an OU passing game that was lifeless in 2024 and made completions of more than 10 yards seem impossible.
Read more: John Mateer keeps giving Oklahoma fans every reason to believe in 2026
Sategna was the Sooners' leading receiver in 2025 with 67 catches for 965 yards and eight TDs thanks to his explosive speed that had him averaging 14.4 yards a catch. Mateer was sidelined for one of Sategna's 13 games when he posted 75 yards and two TDs against Kent State, but you can bet it would have been even more with Mateer throwing the rock instead of Michael Hawkins Jr. Of Mateer's 2,885 passing yards, Sategna was on the receiving end of about 31% of that production.
That total included four outings of at least 100 receiving yards after that happened just once total in 2024. Sategna was a first-team AP All-SEC honoree and second-team selection by coaches before ultimately choosing to return to Oklahoma for one more season instead of heading to the NFL.
That leaves no doubt what Mateer and Sategna are capable of together on a field, while most other duos throughout college football have a question mark after their names.
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