2026 NFL Draft: College Game Recaps – Week 7

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer looked poised to become a high first-round candidate for the 2026 NFL Draft. Mateer played really well with Washington State in 2024 and was off to a great start in 2025 before a thumb injury he sustained in a win over Auburn led to thumb surgery. Mateer was expected to be out for about a month, but shockingly, Mateer was out only 17 days, making the start against Texas. Mateer looked like he was doing okay physically, but he had a pair of poor decisions and ball security

In the early going, Mateer looked sharp, completing some passes, including a 23-yard play where he worked through progressions and then found his third option open for the chunk gain. Midway through the first half, Mateer took a hard hit to the thumb on a run, but he stayed in the game and continued to gut it out. Near the end of the first quarter, Mateer backpedaled and threw a floater to a receiver down the seam, and the pass was undercut by a Texas defensive back for an interception.

Late in the second quarter, Mateer made an impressive play to climb in the pocket and throw a dart despite pressure for a first down conversion. He used his legs to run for 10. However, Mateer ended the half with a bad pass, thinking his receiver would break left when he ran straight into the end zone. Mateer threw a deep ball that was easily intercepted in the end zone by Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad to take away a field goal opportunity for the Sooners.

To open the third quarter, Mateer made another bad decision, staring down a receiver and throwing into traffic. He was lucky the interception was dropped, as it would have gone for a pick-six. Two plays later, his receiver did not sit down in zone coverage and reached back to knock down the pass just in front of a Longhorns defender.

Early in the fourth quarter, a holding penalty brought back a 33-yard run by Mateer, showing his impressive speed. However, a play later, Mateer had a pass behind his receiver, and it deflected off the hands of his receiver and floated to a defensive back for Mateer’s third interception of the game. After that, Mateer took a few drives, killing sacks to take away any chance of an Oklahoma comeback. Mateer finished completing 20-of-38 passes for 202 yards with three interceptions and took five sacks.

This was an ugly tape for Mateer, and it will hurt him with NFL evaluators. Not only did Mateer have some bad interceptions, but he also had other turnover-worthy throws and decisions. Mateer has a good arm, mobility, and dangerous playmaking ability. But Mateer has a gunslinger style that leads to some gambling with poor decisions and ball security. Mateer needs to play better in the weeks to come.

There was an excellent draft matchup in this game with Alabama left tackle Kayden Proctor taking on the Missouri edge rush tandem of Zion Young and Damon Wilson. Young and Wilson have been superb this year and have combined to be extremely effective at pressuring the quarterback. The massive Proctor looks like a potential top-20 pick next April, so he would be a great test for the Tigers tandem.

Early in the first quarter, Young made a stupid decision when a teammate of his made a tackle for a loss on a screen pass, and Young decided to get in the face of Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard to taunt him. That penalty took away a third-and-15 and gave the Crimson Tide a first down. Later in the drive, Young jumped offside, which gifted another first down. In the second quarter, Young pushed through the right tackle and right guard to get pressure on Ty Simpson while slapping down the pass.

In the second quarter, Wilson made a huge play on a third down, fighting through the tight end and the right tackle to get a sack of Ty Simpson. It was a phenomenal rush showing power to fight off blocks, speed to close, and agility to get turned to the quarterback.

At the very start of the third quarter, a teammate was sacking Simpson when Young joined in and punched the ball out from behind. Wilson was being blocked by Proctor, but Wilson saw the loose ball and dove on it for a huge turnover for Missouri. Shortly later, Proctor didn’t get into the chest of his rusher and allowed the defender to cut to the inside and hit Simpson. Later in the second quarter, Wilson pushed into the chest of Proctor before looping back to the inside to get a hit on Simpson. Midway through the fourth quarter, Wilson blew by the right tackle with a speed rush and ripped down Simpson for Wilson’s second sack of the game.

This tape should help both Young and Wilson. Pro evaluators won’t like the penalties on Young and his lack of discipline, but Young showed speed and athleticism at the point of attack. Both Young and Wilson are fast to get upfield, agile to redirect, and have functional strength to shed blocks. This tape should help Young and Wilson be first- or second-round picks next April.

Overall, this was not an impressive tape from Proctor. While he wasn’t abused or dominated, he allowed some hits on the quarterback, and he showed some technique flaws by not latching onto rushers and letting them break free to the inside on numerous occasions. Proctor looked better in the ground game. He pushed open some lanes in the ground game and got a push on the goal line to open a scoring lane that was called back. Proctor has starting ability, but this tape won’t be that helpful for his draft grade.

Alabama defensive lineman L.T. Overton played well against Missouri as he was consistently causing disruption in the Tigers’ backfield. Early in the first half, Overton pushed the right guard back for shedding the block and tripping up the quarterback for a sack. In the fourth quarter, Overton chased down a scrambling quarterback for a sack outside of the pocket. A couple of plays later, Overton pushed off the right tackle and chased the quarterback out of the pocket. Overton is a bit of a tweener end/tackle for the NFL, but this tape will help him show pro evaluators his ability to beat guards or tackles as a pass rusher.