KJ Jefferson in 2021 and 2022 was actually in a very similar situation as he'd be here.
Playing for an OL centered head coach, who has hired a coach somewhat unorthodox to what he knows to call his offense.
Pittman hiring Briles and Mario hiring Dawson.
In those 2 years:
2021 -- KJ was 9th in the country in passer rating. Better than Jordan Travis, Will Levis, Tyler Van Dyke, Sam Howell, Desmond Ridder, Aidan O'Connell, and Kenny Pickett. That's the 2 state QBs plus 5 NFL starters.
-- 9th in the country in yards per attempt. That's better than Bryce Young, Matt Corral, and all the guys I mentioned above. Only names above him include Stroud, Bennett, Hooker, Caleb Williams
-- 15th in the country in completion percentage. Again better than Bryce Young, Pickett, Levis, etc
-- He also ran for 664 yards, which is over 50 per game, with 6 TDs. Accounted for 27 TDs overall with only 4 INTs in 13 games. In the SEC West.
2022 -- KJ was 6th in the country in passer rating. Better than Drake Maye, JJ McCarthy, Jordan Travis, Max Duggan, Sam Hartman, and Stetson Bennett.
-- 20th in the country in yards per attempt. Better than McCarthy, DTR, Michael Penix Jr, Will Levis, etc
-- 8th in the country in completion percentage. Better than Jayden Daniels, Clayton Tune, and CJ Stroud
-- He also ran for 640 yards, which is over 58 per game, with 9 TDs. Accounted for 31 TDs with only 4 INTs in 10 games. In the SEC West.
In 2023, Briles moved on to TCU, and Arkansas hired a guy named Daniel Enos. I've never heard of him, but apparently he's not the best coordinator known to man. Who knew? Jefferson's numbers sunk, and he got hurt multiple times.
Make no mistake, this kid is a good football player. No, he's not an NFL passer. But he can ABSOLUTELY get the job done in this scheme, with this OL, this defense, and these weapons. No doubt about it.
And this is probably my single favorite thing about him and why I feel he'd be successful here:
Everybody thinks he sucks.
I LOVE that. The average person who gives their opinion and is really vocal about this stuff went to pre-first grade. If the average person hates him, that means he's actually really good. Because the average person is a ******* moron. (PS you’re entitled to not think he’s great. He’s in the portal. Very few kids there are great. They almost always have warts. I just think the majority of people who are yelling from the rooftops that he sucks didn’t actually watch him play. If you did and you’ve studied him and you say he’s useless, consider your opinion respected. I disagree.)
If we miss on Ward, sign me up for this kid. He would excel in this offense. He's basically what we all want Jacurri Brown to be. Big, mobile, accurate, experienced, tough, can run and throw, and he's 24 years old. We need some adults in that room. The last one we had was basically a mute. Someone who can come in and show Emory and Judd how to work, and also, maybe bringing this guy in helps keep Jacurri. Who better to continue to learn under than a **** carbon copy of the player you're trying to be?
He's been successful, and most adult helmet wearers tell me he stinks. Sign me up.
