John Mateer's leadership could be missing ingredient the Oklahoma Sooners need to get back to their winning ways
The arrival of transfer quarterback John Mateer to the Oklahoma Sooners was met with plenty of exuberance. The Sooners needed an answer under center after a year of poor play from Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins Jr., and Mateer represented a massive potential upgrade. Mateer's film is significantly more encouraging than anything the Sooners had […]
The arrival of transfer quarterback John Mateer to the Oklahoma Sooners was met with plenty of exuberance. The Sooners needed an answer under center after a year of poor play from Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins Jr., and Mateer represented a massive potential upgrade.
Mateer's film is significantly more encouraging than anything the Sooners had last season, and his profile has plenty of people excited about his potential in Norman.
However, one area that seems dramatically different about Mateer from other recent quarterbacks in Oklahoma is his leadership. The intangibles and "moxie" Mateer plays with and brings to the Sooners is a stark shift under center.
The Sooners haven't had a quarterback with that in several years, and it's why he's drawing the comparisons to Baker Mayfield. Kyler Murray was a spark plug, but he had a quiet and reserved personality. Jalen Hurts was much the same way, sans the impact on offense. Spencer Rattler came to Norman with a brash personality. We never got to see Caleb Williams truly reach his peak with the Sooners, but he might have brought the same personality to Oklahoma.
Last year, there was very little spark and leadership out of the quarterback room. That seems harsh to say, but nothing clicked there in the room, and it rubbed off on the rest of the offense.
You can't say that about Mateer, who has already made a stark impact on the offense from both a leadership standpoint. Mateer is bringing an "edge" to the offense that they've missed for quite some time.
Obviously, any sort of buzz about his outlook is premature, but speaking to sources around the team, the "feel" of the team is entirely different from what it was at this point last year, and many are pointing at Mateer as the source.
This would be a welcome shift for Oklahoma and should have fans excited about this unit heading into 2025.
