2026 NFL Draft: College Game Recaps – Week 4

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer is in the running to be the top quarterback prospect for the 2026 NFL Draft. After leading the Sooners to a big win over Michigan a few weeks ago, the Washington State transfer Mateer was seeing his first SEC opponent with a salty Auburn defense. Overall, Mateer played well and was an effective game manager despite the Tigers’ defense doing a nice job of limiting the Oklahoma passing offense.

On his opening drive, Mateer showed his speed and athleticism, ripping off a couple of nice runs, including a fourth-down conversion. Mateer missed a deep pass and threw a great pass downfield that his receiver fell short of catching, and Oklahoma settled for a field goal. Early in the second quarter, Mateer found a receiver wide open and delivered a strike for a 24-yard touchdown. Mateer kept coming, throwing some bullets to move down the field, but then Mateer fumbled a zone-read play and Auburn recovered. Mateer was making some good passes, but the Sooners’ receivers had some painful drops to limit drives and force the Sooners to settle for some field goals. In the third quarter, Mateer threw some precision passes, including a perfect strike in a tight window for a gain of about 20. Auburn took the lead midway through the fourth quarter, and Mateer needed to step up for his team. Mateer threw some precision passes and lofted a beautiful pass deep down the field for a 31-yard gain. The next play, Mateer showed his running ability to dodge tacklers and power into the end zone from nine yards out. That turned out to be the game-winning score. Mateer finished completing 24-of-36 passes for 271 yards with a touchdown passing and a touchdown rushing.

For the NFL, Mateer looks like a starter who could be a playmaking passer. Mateer is an accurate passer with excellent ball placement overall. He has a few throws get away from him, but Mateer has impressive precision as a passer. Mateer is very mobile in the pocket and can hurt defenses on the ground. As a passer, Mateer is similar to Baker Mayfield, but Mateer is a better athlete and more dangerous with his feet. It would not surprise this analyst if Mateer ends up rising high for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Auburn defensive lineman Keldric Faulk looks like a future top-16 pick and he was very good against Oklahoma. In the second quarter, Faulk worked off a block and chased Mateer out of the pocket to force a throwaway. Faulk was lining up at a variety of places, including a couple of impressive rushers coming from the inside with an effective spin move to work through the left guard. In the final seconds of the first half, Faulk worked off the right side and chased down Meteer for a sack when he climbed the pocket. Midway through the third quarter, Faulk pushed through the left tackle to get a tackle for a loss on an attempted perimeter run.

As a run defender, Faulk is special, and he is a real force at the point of attack. Faulk is very strong and has no problem holding his ground against downhill runs. He sets the edge and shows impressive power to shed his block and get in on tackles.

In the pass rush, Faulk is a developing player, but he is rising and improving at a rapid rate. Faulk is tall, long, and plays with good extension to keep tackles from getting into his chest and getting a hold of him. Faulk can rush with power and knock blockers backward while bulling them towards the quarterback. While Faulk is not a freak speed rusher like Von Miller, Faulk has speed to get upfield and shows an impressive burst to close. When Faulk gets free, he eats up ground in a hurry to finish the rush. Faulk can rush from end or tackle and shows versatility with where he can line up.

Sources also say that Faulk is a great kid and a high-character individual with an excellent work ethic. Faulk looks like a top-16 talent for the 2026 NFL Draft.

There was an excellent draft matchup in this game with Auburn left tackle Xavier Chaplin going against Sooners edge rusher R. Mason Thomas. Chaplin is a massive tackle, and Thomas is an undersized speed rusher. So it would be interesting to see if Chaplin had the necessary quickness to negate Thomas’ rush and if Thomas had the strength to hold up against Chaplin.

In the first half, Chaplin was blocking well. He was sustaining blocks in pass protection, showing his massive size and ability to tie up defenders. However, in the opening minute of the third quarter, Thomas used a speed rush to get upfield and scrapped with Chaplin before separating from the big tackle. Jackson Arnold held onto the ball too long, topping four seconds, and rolled to his right before Thomas chased him down from behind for a sack.

Overall, Chaplin had a mixed outing. He had some nice blocks with wins as a run blocker and pass protector, but he also had a couple of false start penalties and gave up that coverage sack. That sack was the fault of Arnold over Chaplin. Chaplin looks like he has the ability to be a starting edge protector in the NFL, and this tape won’t hurt or help him significantly.

There was a tremendous draft matchup in this game with Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey taking on Utah offensive tackles Caleb Lomu and Spencer Fano. All three could go in the top 60 next April, and all three have a shot at being first-rounders. Overall, this tape was not very impressive for any of the three.

In the second quarter, Bailey got a speed rush past a tight end to cause the quarterback to step up and avoid a sack. It looked like a missed assignment by Lomu as he double-teamed the tackle rather than helping his tight end in a one-on-one against a dangerous speed rusher. For the majority of the game, Bailey was quiet and a non-factor. Bailey had limited opportunities as the Utes’ quarterback, struggling to sustain drives and throwing some painful interceptions. Late in the fourth quarter, Bailey was being blocked by Fano when Fano peeled off Bailey to go after another edge rusher who was running free and closer to the quarterback. Bailey took advantage to chase down the quarterback for a coverage sack. The next play, Fano got off balance and grabbed Bailey to draw holding penalty.

In the first quarter, Fano made a horrible mental mistake. He got too far downfield, and that negated a 69-yard touchdown pass. It was a massive mental mistake by Fano that really hurt his team. Late in the second quarter, Fano had an impressive rep on Bailey. Bailey tried to use a speed rush, but Fano cut off the corner and sustained his block to give his quarterback plenty of time to get the ball out. Just after halftime, Bailey tried running the loop around Fano with a speed rush, but Fano showed his quickness to get depth in his drop and wall off Bailey. Early in the fourth quarter, Fano paved the way with a superb block, moving his defender back and opening a running lane for a back to get into the end zone from about five yards out.

Of all three, Fano was the most impressive in terms of his physical talent. Fano is quick, athletic, agile, and strong. Lomu has good athleticism, along with quickness and agility, but Lomu has some technique issues that need to be cleaned up for the NFL to not get beaten by pro linemen. Bailey is a fast and athletic speed rusher, but he is undersized. Teams like the Detroit Lions, which are looking for a base end who is big, strong, and a tough run defender who can set the edge, will not be high on Bailey. Other teams, like the Dallas Cowboys, who like ultra-fast twitchy edge rushers, will like Bailey. None of this trio will be helped or hurt significantly by this tape.

There has been some buzz for Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton, but he dealt that blow with an ugly performance at Utah. With Utah getting robbed by the refs, Morton did a good job of keeping the Utes in the game with some poor ball security. In the first quarter, Morton underthrew a deep pass that hit off the back of a cornerback, and a Utes safety caught the deflection for an interception. It was bad luck on a bad throw from Morton. The next Red Raiders possession, Morton held the ball long and didn’t get the ball out before taking a blind-side strip-sack. The possession after that, Morton threw a deep ball up for grabs in the end zone, but the pass was underthrown and fell to the cornerback for an interception in the end zone. Early in the third quarter, Morton took off on a run when he should have thrown a pass away or slid, but instead, he led with his head into a defender and took a vicious hit that knocked him out of the game. Morton finished completing 12-of-19 passes for 142 yards with two interceptions and a fumble. This was a bad tape from Morton showing poor ball security, some horribly underthrown passes, and bad ball placement. This tape will hurt his draft grade.