Where is John Mateer in latest Heisman Trophy odds?
College football's most prestigious individual award won't be handed out until December, but there's already plenty of intrigue around this year's contestants.
That's because none of last year's four Heisman finalists are returning to college football this season. Colorado's Travis Hunter took home the award for the 2024 season, beating out his fellow finalists in Boise State's Ashton Jeanty, Oregon's Dillon Gabriel and Miami's Cam Ward.
Strangely enough, none of the next six highest vote-getters are returning to college either. Arizona State's Cam Skattebo, Army's Bryson Daily, Penn State's Tyler Warren, Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Indiana's Kurtis Rourke, and Syracuse's Kyle McCord are all off to the NFL, meaning the top ten finishers in the Heisman vote from last year have are gone.
This means that there's plenty of opportunity for the next wave of collegiate stars to make a name for themselves. Once again, the top four vote-getters get to go to New York City for the Heisman presentation.
BetMGM has updated their Heisman Trophy odds earlier this week, and they reflect the chaos that could ensue in this year's race. Currently, it's Arch Manning of Texas who has the shortest odds to take home the trophy at plus-600, followed by Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) at plus-850 and Cade Klubnik (Clemson) at plus-900.
While Manning was a five-star prospect and has garnered plenty of hype due to his name, he's still unproven as a full-time starter in college football. Players like Nussmeier, Klubnik, and Drew Allar of Penn State (plus-1400) are all proven starters, but each needs to take the next step toward superstardom in 2025. The top non-quarterbacks in BetMGM's odds are wide receiver Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State (plus-1000) and wide receiver Ryan Williams of Alabama (plus-3500).
When it comes to Heisman pedigree, there are few programs that can go face-to-face with the Oklahoma Sooners. Seven OU players have hoisted the famous bronze statue. Those players are Billy Vessels (1952), Steve Owens (1969), Billy Sims (1978), Jason White (2003), Sam Bradford (2008), Baker Mayfield (2017), and Kyler Murray (2018).
The Sooner who has the best chance to join those legendary players this season is starting quarterback John Mateer, who would be the fourth Oklahoma QB to take home the award. Mateer's odds currently sit at plus-2500, which places him in a three-way tie for tenth. He has the same odds as Carson Beck from Miami and Sam Leavitt from Arizona State.
However, Mateer falls below players like Dante Moore at Oregon, LaNorris Sellers from South Carolina, Julian Sayin from Ohio State and DJ Lagway at Florida. Each of those quarterbacks are going off at plus-1800. Mateer will get to have quarterback duels with Manning, Nussmeier and Sellers in 2025, as well as Ole Miss' Austin Simmons and Alabama's Ty Simpson, who both have plus-4000 odds.
The Heisman will be decided this fall, not this summer. Mateer enters his first season with the Sooners, but it's his second season starting in new OC Ben Arbuckle's system and his third season in it overall, after he was a backup in 2023. He knows what his offensive coordinator wants and how to operate Arbuckle's Air Raid scheme.
Mateer's main focus will obviously be winning games this year. However, if he's able to help propel Oklahoma back to where it belongs, he could be in consideration for the ultimate individual hardware this year in what could be one of the wildest Heisman Trophy races of the past few seasons.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
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