Brent Venables avoids Oklahoma’s worst nightmare with transfer portal commitment

John Mateer to Oklahoma always made the most sense; his former offensive coordinator at WSU, Ben Arbuckle, is already on his way to OU. Plus, Mateer had a great shot to start for the Sooners as Jackson Arnold departed the program for Auburn a few weeks back.

Now, the speculation can end — Mateer is officially committing to OU, where he'll look to jumpstart a Sooners offense that was pretty tough to watch for most of this season. The top transfer QB in the portal, Mateer could be the savior of an offensive unit that averaged the second-fewest points per game in the conference.

Brent Venables got his guy; and it was necessary. Coming off a season that began in the top 25 but ended by sneaking into a bowl game, Venables needs a bounce back year so the OU faithful doesn't fully turn on him, and Mateer is a great rock to build around.

If you didn't watch much Washington State football last year, you missed out. Mateer was one of the most fun players in college football; he isn't afraid to take shots in the air, but will also run like a crazy person (that's a compliment) when there's space in front of him. How much of his freewheeling play will transfer to the SEC remains a mystery, but he'll provide more of a fun factor than OU has had in a while — that's worth something by itself.

What does this mean for Michael Hawkins?

The incoming sophomore likely would have been the Sooners starter if Mateer didn't transfer in, but now with the former Cougar in the mix, it likely relegates Hawkins to a backup role.

Mateer is a mobile threat, so a "change of pace" for Hawkins likely won't be necessary. He could get an occasional snap, but I don't foresee him playing much of a role in next year's Sooners offense at all.