Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson is back for his redshirt senior season in Fayetteville and he has the chance to enter his name into the conversation as one of the program's greatest quarterbacks ever with a strong 2023.
Following two successful seasons as the starting quarterback for the Razorbacks, Jefferson enters the year as a preseason Second-Team All-SEC passer and the expectations for him from a national perspective are at an all-time high.
"He’s off the chart from an intellectual standpoint as far as understanding football and every day I think he’s growing," offensive coordinator Dan Enos said on Aug. 17. "I really do, I think he’s got a whole ceiling and I don’t think he’s come close to reaching it yet. So I’m very excited for him this year and then into the future."
Having a three year starter at the quarterback position is rare in college football, and that continuity puts Jefferson in a unique position heading into this season. He comfortably sits within the top 10 in school history in almost every passing stat, and is within striking distance of breaking multiple records.
No matter how this season goes, Jefferson will be remembered fondly by Razorback fans. He stayed loyal to Arkansas through his disastrous freshman year, which was the final season of the Chad Morris tenure. Jefferson then endured a chaotic COVID year sitting behind Florida transfer Feleipe Franks, plus he's now working with his third offensive coordinator (Dan Enos) as a Hog.
Jefferson led Arkansas to a nine-win season in 2021 and back-to-back bowl wins as the team's starter. He and head coach Sam Pittman are the faces of a rebuild that has brought Arkansas football back from being a bottom feeder.
The Sardis, Mississippi, native is up there with Brandon Allen as one of the best quarterbacks Arkansas has had since the Bobby Petrino era a decade ago. If he lives up to the hype with a redshirt senior season to remember, the sky is the limit as far as his legacy in Fayetteville goes.
Starting off with total yards and total touchdowns, Matt Jones is the all-time leader in both categories with 8,392 yards and 77 scores. Jefferson sits in the top-five with 7,245 yards and 67 touchdowns. While it's no easy feat, if Jefferson was able to amass 3,288 total yards and 33 total touchdowns in 2022, he will pass Jones in these categories.
That would also puts Jefferson in position to break Tyler Wilson’s records for pass completions (593) and passing yards (7,765). He only needs to manage 158 completions for 1,950 passing yards — marks he comfortably hit last season, when he completed 204 passes for 2,648 yards while also missing two games.
Wilson also holds the record for best career completion percentage at 62.6. Jefferson’s current career rate is 65.5% (68% in 2022). If he can hold steady this season, he will comfortably break this record – and he has a shot to one-up Franks’ single season record of 68.5%. Jefferson already holds the second and third best single-season completion percentage marks.
Allen’s passing touchdown record of 64 is the other major number that Jefferson can comfortably hit this year. He currently has 48 passing touchdowns, 24 of which came last season. It would take just 17 passing touchdowns for Jefferson this fall to become the new record holder.
Below is a hypothetical 2023 season for Jefferson that would break all of the above-mentioned records, compared with his 2022 stats for reference.
All of those numbers are very much attainable for Jefferson. He could regress from last year and still comfortably hit these projections, but the expectation across the board is that the addition of Enos and the switch to a more pro-style offense is going to take Jefferson’s game to the next level as a passer.
"I think KJ’s a guy that can do a lot of different things," Enos said. "I think he could be a true drop-back passer and get by and be very, very good at it. He’s, like I said, has got great eyes, anticipation, great arm talent. But man, this guy is a big, really, really natural runner.
"He’s got great vision. He sets up blocks. He’s a tremendous athlete. I think we’re going to find a nice, good balance between letting him do the things he can do with his arm, and also I’ll obviously rely on him to do the things with his legs."
Just based on the numbers, Jefferson will likely end his Razorback career as the school record holder for career passing yards, passing touchdowns, total yards, total touchdowns, pass completions and completion percentage.
At that point, who can argue with his status as the one of the best quarterback in Arkansas football history?
He might never match the single season numbers of Petrino era passers like Ryan Mallett and Wilson – or hold the nostalgia of Jones, who was a true dual threat more than a decade before it became the sport’s obsession.
If Arkansas’ all-time passing leaderboard ends up with Jefferson’s name at the top of nearly every category, there could be a debate for him being the program's best to do it.
Jefferson and the Hogs will get started with their 2023 campaign at noon CT on Saturday against Western Carolina at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The game will be streamed live on the SEC Network+ and ESPN+.
