KJ Jefferson

KJ Jefferson (born May 20, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

KJ Jefferson
Arkansas Razorbacks – No. 1
PositionQuarterback
Class
Redshirt
Sophomore
Personal information
Born: (2001-05-20) May 20, 2001
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career history
College
Bowl games
High schoolNorth Panola (Sardis, Mississippi)

High school career

Jefferson attended North Panola High School in Sardis, Mississippi.[2] He finished his high school career with 9,582 passing yards, 2,922 rushing yards and 143 total touchdowns.[3] He committed to the University of Arkansas to play college football over offers from such schools as Baylor, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, NC State, Kentucky, and Texas A&M.[4][5] Jefferson was a 4-star recruit on Rivals.com and 247Sports.com, and was considered one of the top dual-threat QBs in the nation.

College career

Jefferson spent his true freshman year at Arkansas in 2019 as a backup to Nick Starkel to Ben Hicks. He made his first career start against the LSU Tigers.[6] For the season he completed 14 of 31 passes for 197 yards with one interception and also rushed for two touchdowns. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, he was the backup to Feleipe Franks. He appeared in five games and made one start for an injured Franks.[7] He finished the season completing 20 of 41 passes for 295 yards, three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Jefferson entered the 2021 season as the starter.[8][9] Jefferson started all twelve games for Arkansas in 2021, helping the Razorbacks finish the season 8-4 overall record, 4-4 in SEC games. This included a non-conference victory over the Texas Longhorns, and trophy game wins over the Texas A&M Aggies (Southwest Classic Trophy), LSU Tigers (Golden Boot Trophy), and Missouri Tigers (Battle Line Rivalry Trophy). It was the first time in team history that Arkansas had won all three trophy games in the same season. Jefferson started for Arkansas in their season-ending Outback Bowl game versus Penn State, and led the Razorbacks to a 24-10 victory, and a 9-4 final record. Jefferson was named the 2022 Outback Bowl MVP. His final season statistics after the bowl game were 2,676 yards passing for 21 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, while completing 67.3 percent of his passes for a QB efficiency rating of 164.7. He also rushed 146 times for 664 yards and 6 rushing touchdowns, all team highs.

References
  1. Wayne, E. (January 1, 2022). "KJ Jefferson named MVP of Outback Bowl". Razorbacks Wire. Retrieved January 5, 2022 – via Yahoo! News.
  2. Alexander, Wilson. "It's been decades since North Panola has seen a QB like KJ Jefferson". The Clarion-Ledger.
  3. "Jefferson's commitment to Arkansas doesn't waver". Arkansas Online. February 14, 2019.
  4. "Arkansas QB commit KJ Jefferson is goal-driven superstar". wholehogsports.com.
  5. "Hogs' young QB proves his commitment". Arkansas Online. July 29, 2019.
  6. "Jefferson jumps into fire against red-hot Tigers". Arkansas Online. November 24, 2019.
  7. "Coach knew Jefferson's star turn was coming". wholehogsports.com.
  8. "Jefferson moves up: New quarterback is taking command of huddle". Arkansas Online. August 24, 2021.
  9. "KJ Jefferson ready for homecoming". wholehogsports.com.


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