Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Apr 18, 2026; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) throws during the Oklahoma Spring Game at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium.
Entering the 2025 college football season, one of the biggest stories in the nation was Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer, who followed offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Norman from Washington State.
Through the first few games of the season, including a win over Michigan, Mateer looked like a star. However, a thumb injury eventually derailed his season, and even though he’d later return and lead the Sooners to the College Football Playoff, it wasn’t quite the season many Oklahoma fans expected.
Mateer completed a career-low 62.2 percent of his passes and threw 11 interceptions to only 14 touchdowns. Additionally, there was significant consternation surrounding his side-arm throwing motion.
Now, he’s doing something about it.
John Mateer Looks Like A Completely Different QB Ahead Of The 2026 Season
Not only did Mateer put on significant weight in the offseason to deal with the rigors of being a dual-threat quarterback in the SEC, but he also completely revamped his throwing motion.
Wilson Alexander of On3 Sports shared a video of Mateer showing off the throwing motion at the famed Manning Passing Academy on Monday and also spoke with the QB about why he made the change and what the process was like.
John Mateer rebuilt his throwing motion this offseason after the thumb injury affected his mechanics.
This is what it looks like now.
More from the OU QB: https://t.co/rhyimQRLCb https://t.co/zCe8IhPlRh pic.twitter.com/ZshIASppJk
— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) June 29, 2026
“It’s like throwing a baseball without your two fingers,” Mateer said of trying to play after the thumb injury last season. “I had to hold the ball flatter, be under it. I couldn’t really get over the top of it as much, and I just had to adapt to make it work. It was OK. You know, I mean, we all saw what it ended up being. But it’s better now.”
Now, he tells Alexander, he’s trying to get his mechanics back closer to what they were at Washington State, which included a more conventional delivery.
“I looked at the old videos to really show myself, show my brain that I’ve already done something like that,” he said. “I’ve grown up throwing like that. And then you train the brain, you train the body. But there’s always more. You watch all these old guys, and there’s a lot of guys in college that have really nice, pure motions, and you watch it and you see it and then you do it. So, I would not say it’s going back to anything, but it’s not not going back, you know?”
Even with the changes, he says the sidearm delivery is something he still feels he can break out as needed. But he won’t be relying on it on a down-to-down basis.
Will Mateer’s offseason work pay off in a major CFP run by the Sooners? Let us know in the comments below!