Tim Tebow compares John Mateer to Johnny Manziel 'a tiny bit'

John Mateer is one of the more athletic quarterbacks in all of college football. Coming off his debut last week at Oklahoma, Tim Tebow was reminded of a former winner of the Heisman Trophy while watching the Sooners’ quarterback.

On ‘The Paul Finebaum Show’ on Friday, Tebow compared Mateer to Johnny Manziel. That’s with the extra twitch of athleticism that Mateer has at the quarterback spot now in Norman, like Manziel used to in College Station.

“I think John Mateer is one of the twitchiest players in college football,” Tebow said. “He reminds me a little bit, just a little bit – this is early – a tiny bit of the way that Johnny Manziel was really twitchy in the pocket, could make people miss.”

In his debut for OU during a 35-3 win over Illinois State, Mateer was 30-37 (81.1%) for 392 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception, while also rushing for 24 more yards and another score. That was the latest dual-threat display he’s put out in college after what he did last fall at Washington State. It also further justified him as one of the better players in the sport for this season, with his odds being fourth-best and improving to nearly being cut in half for him to win the Heisman, per BetMGM.

However, Mateer will need more than ‘twitch’ tomorrow night in a Top 20 matchup against Michigan. Their offense as a whole will have to work, with him leading the way, in order to do enough against the Wolverines’ defense.

“I’m excited to see what he can do against a really good team,” Tebow said. “But I also believe he needs more help from his offensive line. I do think his receivers played a lot better than they did last year.”