HawgBeat - Jimbo Fisher praises KJ Jefferson, Arkansas offense
Texas A&M HC Jimbo Fisher had high praise for KJ Jefferson and the rest of the Arkansas football team on Wednesday.
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While some may debate whether Arkansas starting quarterback KJ Jefferson belongs in the same conversation as the best of the best around the nation, there's no doubt that his leadership and experience are crucial for the Razorbacks' hopes of winning games.
Through the first four games of the season, the Preseason Second Team All-SEC selection has completed 70.4% of his passes for 918 yards and nine touchdowns while adding 128 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Look no further than Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher to see how much respect the third-year Arkansas signal-caller has around the SEC.
"Everything starts with KJ," Fisher said on Wednesday's SEC Teleconference. "KJ is a tremendous football player. Hard to get on the ground, makes throws, leadership, brings you back. I mean, there’s nothing he doesn’t do on the football field. Tremendous player."
Despite new faces in the wide receiver room, a knee injury that has left Raheim "Rocket" Sanders sidelined the last three weeks and inconsistent offensive line play, Arkansas' offense is still averaging 36.5 points per game thanks in large part to Jefferson.
"I mean, the quarterback is the essential point of it," Fisher said. "I mean, you gotta remember, they had the same offensive line for basically three years. That’s hard. I went through that, too. Those are big changes and things that go on. And their running back has been hurt.
"And KJ just makes so many plays and is so hard to get on the ground, whether he’s running it with the quarterback runs, the designed runs, or the scrambles or the plays he makes. I think they’re dynamic, they’re athletic and they score points and they’re doing a really good job formationally, route-wise, scheme. I think they’re doing a really good job."
Dual-threat quarterbacks of Jefferson's caliber don't come around often, especially for the Razorbacks. One player who did have the rare talent for the Hogs was quarterback Matt Jones, who played in Fayetteville from 2001-04.
Against LSU this past Saturday, Jefferson tied Jones' total touchdown program record of 77 and he has the opportunity to take over as the stand-alone leader this weekend. Fisher remembers Jones well from his time as the LSU defensive coordinator from 2000-06.
"Matt (Jones) could fly," Fisher said. "Matt was a high 4.3, low 4.4 guy that was 6-foot-6, covered so much ground and I remember… They, KJ probably throws it more and they put a lot more pressure on him to do it that way, but they had so many dynamic weapons back in those days.
"And I remember those teams, I mean they had great backs at that time. And him, getting him on the ground and I mean he could fly, man. I mean just, he’d outrun angles, and then of course you’d play him up there and he’d throw the deep ball and hit you and hurt you.
"So, I mean, both guys are dynamic players, both guys are big, fast, strong guys. I mean, Matt was probably faster. I mean not many guys were as fast as him, I don’t think some of the backs were. I mean he was dynamic that way. KJ throws the ball and is so strong. That’s two great players and they’ve had two dynamic players."
Arkansas and Texas A&M will meet on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game is set to kickoff at 11:00 a.m. CT and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
