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Crow tastes mighty crummy, huh?
Not only is that not even close to the close. An argument could be made that the sophomore, in his first season as bona fide starter, is a top-five quarterback in the league.
Jefferson is third in the league in rushing yards by a quarterback, averaging nearly 58 yards a game. He’s third in the league quarterback rating (170.12) and yards passing (844). Good numbers, without a doubt.
But it’s success on long balls that has Arkansas sitting 4-0 and ranked 11th in the country.
Jefferson leads the SEC in yards per attempt at 10.8 and, per Scottie Bordelon at WholeHogSports, he’s 12 of 17 for 414 yards with two touchdowns on throws longer than 16 yards this year.
Those aren’t good numbers. Those are dynamite numbers.
“I don’t know what you credit the accuracy on long balls to,” coach Sam Pittman said. “Here’s what I do know: you put enough air under it and we’ve got guys.”
Certainly having a guy like Treylon Burks, a preseason All-American, helps. Burks is second in the SEC in yards receiving with 373. Tyson Morris would be fourth in yards per catch if he had enough receptions (seven) to qualify, too.
Someone, though, has to throw the ball up there for players to go get it. It’s been an idea complement to Arkansas’ running game, which is eighth in FBS, averaging 261 yards a game. Jefferson accounts for 57.5 of those every Saturday.
It was silly at the time to put Jefferson as 14th out of 14. Now, it looks downright foolish.