With two years of being a starting quarterback in the Southeastern Conference under his belt, Arkansas' KJ Jefferson continues to pick up national recognition entering year three.
ESPN released its ranking of all 133 FBS quarterback situations in tiers on Tuesday, and Jefferson was the first name listed past the 1a and 1b tiers. The tiers went all the way down to 20, but the lowest SEC quarterback situation was Vanderbilt in tier 12.
Listed in 1a was USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye. The 1b tier included Jordan Travis (Florida State), Bo Nix (Oregon), Cam Rising (Utah) and Michael Penix Jr. (Washington).
By doing some quick math, you will notice that Jefferson is the top quarterback in the SEC, according to this tier ranking by ESPN.
"Jefferson's reputation seemed to take a hit as a result of Arkansas' disappointing 2022 season, but that's absurd," ESPN's David Hale wrote. "He was, arguably, the lone reason the Hogs were competitive. He was on the field for 428 snaps vs. Power 5 opponents last season and off it for 154.
"With Jefferson, Arkansas averaged 6.3 yards per play, 8.3 yards per pass and 5.3 yards per rush with a 113.1 passer rating. Without him, the Razorbacks averaged 5.2 yards per play, 7.2 yards per pass, 4 yards per rush and had a 69 passer rating."
Also included in tier 2 behind Jefferson was Kansas' Jalon Daniels — who threw for 544 yards and five scores in a Liberty Bowl to Arkansas — Michigan's J.J. McCarthy and UTSA's Frank Harris.
Hale makes a great point that really puts into perspective the importance of Jefferson to this Razorback football team. The three games that he was not healthy — Liberty, LSU, Mississippi State — Arkansas lost. If you put a 100% healthy Jefferson on the field for those contests, the Razorbacks are likely looking at a different outcome than 7-6.
Playing the "what if" game doesn't make anything change, though. What is set in stone is just how good Jefferson has been the past two seasons in Fayetteville.
During his redshirt junior campaign in 2022, Jefferson threw for 2,648 yards and 24 touchdowns. He completed 68.0% of his passes, which ranks second in program history for a single season, and he also added 640 rushing yards and a career-best nine rushing touchdowns.
In 2021, Jefferson threw for 2,676 yards and 21 scores while completing 67.3% of his passes, good for the third best mark in program history. Jefferson also added a career-high 664 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground. He was one of eight FBS quarterbacks with 2,500+ passing yards, 20+ passing touchdowns, 500+ rushing yards and 5+ rushing scores that year.
With new offensive coordinator Dan Enos at the helm, Jefferson will have the ability to develop in more of a pro-style offense than he's worked in under Kendal Briles for the last three years.
"I think he's really taken to Dan," head coach Sam Pittman said after Arkansas' Red-White scrimmage on April 15. "That's not saying anything about Kendal, I'm just talking about Dan. He's taken to Dan, and Dan has done a nice job with him. Kendal did, too. I think he's a more knowledgeable quarterback for the NFL simply because we're in an NFL system. I think he's playing with a lot of confidence."
Jefferson and the Razorbacks will begin their season on Saturday, Sept. 2, against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
