Vanderbilt Considered 'Underdog' to Land Star Transfer Quarterback John Mateer
Vanderbilt is looking to make a huge splash in the transfer portal with the class they pull in this cycle, and after landing Alabama transfer edge rusher Keanu Koht and Washington State punter Nick Haberer, they are on their way to do just that.
However, the success of the Commodores next season will be driven by who is their signal-caller.
It shouldn't be a surprise that Vanderbilt was finally able to win and compete in SEC games this year after they landed Diego Pavia out of the portal.
He was one of the best Group of 5 quarterbacks with New Mexico State, and even though there were questions about if his game would translate to the power conference level, it was clear he was good enough to lead this Commodores squad to wins over Alabama, Auburn and Kentucky while coming close to beating ranked teams Missouri and Texas.
For Clark Lea to keep the momentum rolling in Nashville, he's going to need to get another top player at that position since it looks like Pavia won't be back barring the eligibility lawsuit verdict he has against the NCAA at the moment.
Vanderbilt fans likely got hopeful when another Washington State transfer, John Mateer, put his name into the portal, but Robbie Weinstein of 247Sports doesn't think the likelihood of the Commodores winning this one his high.
"If the report from John Canzano about a 1.5M offer on the table is true, then I tend to think that is not Vanderbilt. However, I have done a lot of work on figuring out how much Vandy would spend for a QB. Based on that background work, I expect that they can make an offer for that same 1.5M for Mateer ... I'd still make Vandy an underdog here, but I also wouldn't count them out right now," he reported.
This shouldn't be too surprising.
The former three-star in the 2022 class had a breakout performance this year after finally getting his shot to start.
He completed 64.6% of his passes for 3,139 yards with 29 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions. Mateer added 826 more yards and 15 more touchdowns to his total on the ground, making him a dual threat quarterback who would fit perfectly into Vanderbilt's offense.
Weinstein's report indicates the Commodores could match the $1.5 million offer that is supposedly already on the table from another team, but with someone as productive as Mateer now hitting the open market, that figure could increase.
Vanderbilt should be aggressive in this pursuit since he'd be a great addition.
This one has to be monitored closely to see how it progresses.
