Tony Kornheiser reacts to John Mateer return to Oklahoma: 'No, I'm not surprised'

After this week’s NFL Draft deadline passed, John Mateer’s name did not appear on the list of underclassmen to declare. Thursday night, Oklahoma made it official, announcing its quarterback’s return for 2026.

Mateer was eligible for the draft after completing his fourth season of college football, though he preserved a redshirt early in his career at Washington State. He battled through an injury in 2025, hurting his wrist against Auburn and undergoing surgery. That impacted his production after he became the Heisman Trophy favorite at one point.

During Pardon The Interruption on Friday, Tony Kornheiser agreed with Mateer’s decision to return to Oklahoma. He cited both the injury and his draft stock, which could improve with a fully healthy season in 2026.

“No, I’m not surprised,” Kornheiser told Michael Wilbon during the “Big Finish” segment. “He was injured this year. You make money in college, you get another year in college and you go higher in the draft. He’s not going to go No. 1 because he was hurt.”

John Mateer back for Year 5 of college football

John Mateer finished this past season season with 2,885 passing yards and 14 touchdowns, to 11 interceptions. He also made an impact as a runner, rushing for 431 yards and eight touchdowns after transferring to Oklahoma from Washington State.

The injury had an impact on Mateer’s production, though. In the four games before his surgery, he had a 67.4 completion percentage as he threw for 1,215 yards and six touchdowns, to three interceptions. During the eight games after his return, he completed 59.4% of his passes for 1,670 yards and eight touchdowns, to eight interceptions.

Still, Oklahoma was still able to make the College Football Playoff. The Sooners fell to Alabama in the first round, but Mateer still had a strong showing. He completed 26 of 41 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns, to one interception, to go with a rushing touchdown.

Prior to his arrival at Oklahoma, Mateer put up huge numbers at Wazzu under offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, whom he joined at OU. He threw for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns, to seven interceptions, while adding 826 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. His 330.4 total yards per game ranked fourth in the nation that year.

From there, Mateer entered the transfer portal and committed to Oklahoma to continue working with Arbuckle. He became the No. 3 overall player in the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings as he arrived with high expectations.