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J.D. PicKell knows a few things about college football. The former Cornell and Baylor running back/wide receiver immediately became one of the most popular college-football talking heads when his playing career was over.
Now working for On3, PicKell took to talking about Oklahoma on Friday. He doesn't just think the Sooners will be regular good. He's all the way on board.
"That John Mateer that we saw against Michigan, he was absolutely dime-dealing," PicKell said. "That John Mateer with that Brent Venables defense is good enough to go win you a national championship."
His opening salvo came against fans, some of which are Oklahoma fans, who have blocked out Mateer's first month of the season and focused more on his final two months. Mateer was a different player before a thumb injury changed things.
Mateer averaged 304 yards passing with six touchdowns and three interceptions over his first games in a Sooners uniform. He missed the team's fifth game after undergoing thumb surgery and averaged just 208 yards passing with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions over his last eight games.
The question is whether the thumb bothered him or if Mateer just struggled more because his competition grew stronger in those final eight.
"Whether it it was a thing where he didn't trust his thumb when he came back from his injury mentally, whether it was a thing where he was still getting back physically, I don't know what it was" PicKell said. "But he was a different player post-thumb surgery than he was pre-thumb surgery."
Apparently, some in the analysis sphere think he's a blend of both players as Athlon Sports rated Mateer the seventh best quarterback in the SEC entering next fall. Not a bad ranking, but not near his Heisman Trophy-favorite status from last September.
But PicKell cautions fans not to have that short of a memory.
"We forget super quickly that John Mateer was out here slicing and dicing when he had a thumb that was certainly connected to his throwing hand."
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: On3's Pickell says Mateer, OU defense good enough to win national title
Continue reading...
Now working for On3, PicKell took to talking about Oklahoma on Friday. He doesn't just think the Sooners will be regular good. He's all the way on board.
"That John Mateer that we saw against Michigan, he was absolutely dime-dealing," PicKell said. "That John Mateer with that Brent Venables defense is good enough to go win you a national championship."
His opening salvo came against fans, some of which are Oklahoma fans, who have blocked out Mateer's first month of the season and focused more on his final two months. Mateer was a different player before a thumb injury changed things.
Mateer averaged 304 yards passing with six touchdowns and three interceptions over his first games in a Sooners uniform. He missed the team's fifth game after undergoing thumb surgery and averaged just 208 yards passing with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions over his last eight games.
The question is whether the thumb bothered him or if Mateer just struggled more because his competition grew stronger in those final eight.
"Whether it it was a thing where he didn't trust his thumb when he came back from his injury mentally, whether it was a thing where he was still getting back physically, I don't know what it was" PicKell said. "But he was a different player post-thumb surgery than he was pre-thumb surgery."
Apparently, some in the analysis sphere think he's a blend of both players as Athlon Sports rated Mateer the seventh best quarterback in the SEC entering next fall. Not a bad ranking, but not near his Heisman Trophy-favorite status from last September.
But PicKell cautions fans not to have that short of a memory.
"We forget super quickly that John Mateer was out here slicing and dicing when he had a thumb that was certainly connected to his throwing hand."
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: On3's Pickell says Mateer, OU defense good enough to win national title
Continue reading...
