Once viewed as the Sooners’ next star quarterback and a potential NFL first-rounder, Mateer’s recent struggles have raised serious doubts about his draft future. The Sooners’ 34-26 loss to Ole Miss exposed every weakness that’s been creeping into Mateer’s game. The truth is, Mateer currently lacks the single trait that separates college quarterbacks from true NFL prospects: accuracy under pressure. Since injuring his throwing hand against Auburn, he hasn’t looked the same. His completion rate has dropped from 67.4% in his first four outings to just 58% since returning from surgery. The Ole Miss matchup only reinforced the concern.

17 completions on 31 attempts for 223 yards and a touchdown, no interceptions, but little rhythm or command. His usually dynamic rushing attack, a key part of his dual-threat identity, also vanished, producing just 17 yards on 13 carries. That decline is eroding Mateer’s NFL draft stock. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid went as far as to say that the hand injury and uneven play could push Mateer “outside the top 50 picks.”

After the Ole Miss game, in a 26th October episode of The Ruffino & Joe Show‘ betting host and draftnik Joe Deleone further highlights it: “Mateer clearly is not accurate at the current moment; he has gone backward, whether it’s the thumb injury or it’s other outside factors, and, from what I understand, the NFL has cooled on him because they also don’t think his decision-making has been great recently as well.”

Pocket accuracy is the devil’s lair for Mateer. Against Ole Miss, he went 17 of 31 passes for 223 yards with a TD and no interceptions, but his run game took a major hit, finishing with just 17 yards on 13 carries. That’s affecting his NFL projections, too. Throwing for 1,417 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions and a 64.6% completion rate doesn’t exactly scream first-round buzz. Reid added that missing nearly a month of action only worsens the situation, though a late-season rebound against ranked programs like Alabama, Missouri, and LSU could still help him claw back into Round 1 conversations.

Mateer’s ability to spot open receivers was also a major concern in the Ole Miss game. Mateer made some risky throws into tight coverages, which almost took the game away from them. That pass during the fourth-and-5 play to Javonnie Gibson was too far to catch. Even Brent Venables didn’t mince words before saying it loud. “We probably chose the wrong guy to throw it to,” Venables said. “Not where we need to be from a consistency standpoint and a cleanliness standpoint. That’s a position that needs to play well in order to win, and we could have played a little better there.”

But the same guy’s performance in the first four games of the season earned him the ninth-highest PFSN QB impact grade in the country, which is 89.6, which shows he isn’t completely ruled out of the NFL conversation. “Evaluators are taking a wait-and-see approach,” Reid noted, emphasizing that Mateer still has another year of eligibility to rebuild his reputation if he chooses. It will be interesting to see if Mateer pulls a Carson Beck move to raise his stock.

With Mateer’s inconsistencies, Brent Venables’s entire performance went down.

Against Ole Miss, Brent Venables’ squad struggled on both sides of the ball

Having a strong defense is Oklahoma’s strength this season. They made things extremely difficult for Auburn QB Jackson Arnold, sacking him 9 times and making 14 tackles for loss. They have held their opponents to one TD or less in three of their 4 games this season. But against Ole Miss? They gave up 9 of their 3rd down conversions and were on the field for 87 Rebels snaps. Even the offense was a big mess, as Joe Deleone points straight at it.

Ole Miss just allowed 99 yards over 23 plays across Oklahoma’s final three drives. Those inconsistencies ended Oklahoma’s game against the Rebels. “You have an overrated coaching staff, and an overrated defense, all of these things, like, I’m not pulling punches. The most embarrassing performance by the Oklahoma team at home. It was the best offense that you faced. And you got put into a locker. You got out-coached Pete Golding, Coach Ben Arbuckle. Four rushing attempts at halftime for play lock. They didn’t run the ball until the second half, and then they didn’t get back to running the ball because they had a couple of big plays, and they thought that was enough,” Deleone said.

Oklahoma just managed 342 total yards of offense and 13 downs against Ole Miss, and most of it came on a 76-yard catch and run from Isaiah Setagna in the first half and a 65-yard run in the third quarter by Xavier Robinson. Now, it will be interesting to see how Oklahoma tackles all of it before the toughest slate starts for them.