Oklahoma football’s new QB gets a high grade from CBS Sports

The Oklahoma Sooners landed the top overall player in the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday. Former Washington State quarterback John Mateer signed with OU and head coach Brent Venables, following his former offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Norman.

Simply put, Mateer was the guy Oklahoma had to have. Without him, OU would not have had a veteran option at the position. Now the Sooners have their QB and offensive playcaller ready for a crucial season in 2025. Even better is the fact that they have worked well together before.

As the top quarterback in the portal, it was only a matter of time before his move to OU ended up on a list of the portal’s most notable transfer quarterback moves. CBS Sports editor Will Backus has just that on the list, giving Oklahoma’s signing of Mateer an A+ grade.

Mateer follows his offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Norman. In 2024, these two combined for 3,965 yards of offense and a whopping 44 touchdowns on both the ground and through the air. Mateer also completed an impressive 65% of his passes while averaging just over 14 yards per completion. One can be fairly optimistic about Mateer’s future with Oklahoma. -Backus, CBS Sports

Aside from Mateer landing at Oklahoma, only Devon Dampier (Utah), Darian Mensah (Duke) and Miller Moss (Louisville) received A grades, but none of them performed better than Mateer. Of course, Backus’ list is by no means complete, as the portal will be open until December 28th.