Jefferson embracing mental side of being QB1
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For the fourth straight season, Arkansas will have a new starting quarterback in 2021.
With Feleipe Franks moving on to the NFL, redshirt sophomore KJ Jefferson is set to take over the full-time job after making one start in each of his first two years with the Razorbacks.
The former four-star recruit took the majority of the first-team reps during the spring and head coach Sam Pittman hasn’t been coy about him being the No. 1 quarterback. In fact, the second-year coach reiterated his position at SEC Media Days last week.
“KJ Jefferson is our quarterback,” Pittman said. “Now, does he have competition? You're dang right he's got competition, but he has proven that he can play well in the Southeastern Conference in a game. He started one game, but he played well during that game.”
In his lone start last year, Jefferson completed 18 of 33 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns, plus added another 32 yards and a score on the ground, while leading Arkansas to a season-high 48 points.
His two-point conversion pass would have given the Razorbacks their fourth win of the season, but it came with 43 seconds left and Missouri managed to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.
Despite the loss, Jefferson’s performance seemed to give the coaching staff confidence that he could take over for Franks the following year because Arkansas did not pursue quarterbacks in the transfer portal.
Knowing he’s the guy basically since the end of last season, Jefferson has embraced everything that comes with being a quarterback in the SEC, according to his teammates.
“I think KJ brings a great swagger about himself,” left tackle Myron Cunningham said. “He’s getting more vocal, but he's very assertive in how he plays. He's very athletic. He's just got a great leadership factor, and I think it's only going to help him.”
Being the quarterback, Jefferson is obviously around the offense quite a bit, but the way he carries himself amongst all of his teammates has also been noticed on the other side of the ball.
Linebacker Grant Morgan told the SEC Network crew that you wouldn’t know he was listed as a sophomore on the roster just by the way he acts.
“He’s acting more mature,” Morgan said. “He’s acting like a junior or senior out there with pads on, running around and throwing the football. … KJ has stepped up. To sum it up in a few (words), KJ’s matured a lot, he’s stepped up and he’s being the leader he needs to be.”
The mental side of things will be huge for him in his first year as a starter, but there is also a lot to be excited about when it comes to physical skills.
Jefferson was the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in the country for the Class of 2019, according to Rivals, and is probably Arkansas’ most mobile quarterback since Matt Jones was running wild from 2001-04.
In fact the most rushing yards by an Arkansas quarterback in the 16 seasons since Jones’ departure was 204 yards by Franks last year. Jefferson may not be as accurate as his predecessor, as Franks broke the single-season UA record for completion percentage, but he has the added element of being dangerous with his legs.
“He can run better than Feleipe could, (so) I think we just have to have that in the back of our mind whenever we do drop back to pass the ball,” Cunningham said. “We just have to have that in our mind that he could be scrambling. So we just have to be ready for it.”
The first chance Arkansas fans will have to see Jefferson as the full-time starting quarterback in a real game is the Sept. 4 season opener against Rice. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN-Plus and SEC Network-Plus.