Jordan Rodgers declares John Mateer 'the best player in the entire country' when healthy

There’s a chance that Oklahoma’s John Mateer, just over two weeks post-op from a surgery on his right hand, returns to the field tomorrow against Texas in the Red River Rivalry. That, to Jordan Rodgers, would mean the return of the best player in all of college football.

Rodgers made that statement while on ‘Get Up’ on Friday morning ahead of Red River at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. He said the health and availability of Mateer is enough to determine the game, as, when able to play, the Sooners’ quarterback is the best player in the nation.

“No doubt,” Rodgers said. “John Mateer is, when healthy, the best player in the entire country. How healthy he will be, I think, will be a determining factor.”

In four games prior to his injury for No. 6 Oklahoma, Mateer has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country, especially with his ability as a dual-threat. He has been 95-141 (67.4%) for 303.8 passing yards per game with six touchdowns and three interceptions, while also rushing for 47.5 yards per game and five more scores. That accounts for 351.3 total yards a game by himself, with 11 touchdowns overall and four turnovers.

Transferring in this offseason, Mateer has, being the quarterback for OC Ben Arbuckle, been the biggest reason why the Sooners’ offense has improved to 33.8 points as a Top-50 scoring offense and 415.2 yards per game, which is up 9.8 points and 84.2 yards a game from last year being right at or outside the Top-100 in scoring and total offense in 2024. But, while being the quarterback, Rodgers thinks it’s almost more important that he’s there for Oklahoma’s run game, with their unit struggling to get anything going on the ground without him.

“To me, he’s even more important to this offense as a whole for Oklahoma. They cannot run the football unless John Mateer is on the field,” Rodgers said. “Against Auburn, they had 32 total rushing yards – 29 of those were John Mateer. So, not only is he dynamic as a thrower. He’s their entire offense running the football as well. It’s going to be a long day against Texas if John Mateer is not healthy, and Oklahoma can’t run the football.”

Mateer being back already would be a major development, as he was thought to be out for around a month at first. But it would only have been for about two weeks if he returned for Red River.