Renewed Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos has been amazed by the football IQ of quarterback KJ Jefferson, giving the senior leader the highest of praise on Thursday.
“Man, what a really, really smart player,” said Enos, who is in his first year back as OC and quarterbacks coach, a position he also held from 2015-17, under Bret Bielema. “(Jefferson’s) obviously as talented as everybody in here knows. But he’s off the chart, from an intellectual standpoint, as far as understanding football, and every day, I think he’s growing.”
The 6-foot-3, 246-pound dual-threat is not only being tabbed as arguably the best QB in the SEC this season, but also one of the nation’s elite signal-callers.
Jefferson has thrown for 5,324 yards and 45 touchdowns in the last two years, while running for 1,304 additional yards and 15 TDs. He also owns two of the top three completion-percentage seasons in Arkansas history, with 68 percent in 2022 and 67.3 percent in 2021 — trailing only Tyler Wilson’s top mark of 68.5 percent in 2011.
He is also the first Razorback quarterback to garner preseason All-SEC honors since Wilson in 2012.
“He’s got great eyes, anticipation, great arm talent,” Enos said. “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.”
Jefferson’s great awareness and instincts are obvious, and he has always excelled at decision-making — evident by only 10 interceptions in the 666 passes he has thrown in four seasons with the Razorbacks. His career completion percentage is 65.6.
“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. At the end of the day, to make us the most efficient offense we can be to help our football team win. He’s a really good athlete.”
Entering his third season as the Hogs’ starter, the Sardis, Miss., native, is already in the Top 10 in several program categories, and looks poised to rewrite more records this season. He is 3rd in 300-yard passing games (5), 4th in total TDs (67), 5th in total yards (7,245), 6th in TD passes (48) and total plays (1,028), and 7th in total completions (436) and passing yards (5,816).
Jefferson’s previous three seasons were under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Kendall Briles, who departed for TCU in January. Enter Enos, who coached former Razorback Brandon Allen to the SEC’s highest passer rating in 2015, while throwing for 3,440 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Enos has also coached other great quarterbacks, including Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, and Cooper Rush, but admitted that Jefferson could end up being the best of them all.
“I’ve been very impressed with his ability to anticipate and throw to guys before they’re open and make them open,” Enos said. “His ball placement has been really good this camp. You can tell he’s really worked hard in the offseason. I think KJ has the ability to be as good as anybody I’ve ever coached, and I’ve coached some good ones.”
He also feels Jefferson is still far away from reaching his full potential.
“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.”
Enos orchestrates more of a pro-style offense than what Briles did, meaning Jefferson will be lining up in new formations. He will be under center much more often, which Enos said helps develop someone as a passer. Jefferson is regarded as one of the nation’s best dual-threat quarterbacks, but his ability to sit in the pocket longer seems to have already progressed under Enos,
“I believe in the offseason they should train under center a lot because I think when you’re under center it makes you more aware of your timing, your rhythm and your balance on your drops,” Enos said. “I think a lot of these young players now don’t play under center ever when they’re young.
“I do think that’s a disservice for these quarterbacks coming up because I feel that’s where you really, really learn and build a foundation of balance, rhythm and timing on passes. And then you should transition back into the shotgun because that’s great as well. But I think it’s much easier to transition back than it is to transition forward.”
Jefferson has picked up the concept of the new Enos offensive quickly, while some details of the schemes have carried over from the previous regime.
“He’s doing a really good job I think of understanding our run game and when things are not going to be good,” Enos said. “Or, on the flip side of that, understanding that this might be a better play based off the structure over here and he’s doing that at the line of scrimmage.
“And then also his ability to help us in some of our five- and six-man protections, getting us on the correct blitzers. He’s grown a lot in those areas and has really come a long way. I feel really, really good about him. He’s a really smart, smart young man.”
The media has voted Jefferson a preseason Second-Team All-SEC selection, and he has already been named to the watch lists for the prestigious Davey O’Brien, Maxwell and Manning Awards.
Arkansas has 13 fall practices remaining, before heading to Little Rock for the season-opener against Western Carolina on Sept. 2.
