The Arkansas Football team has been incredibly lucky to see the growth and rise of quarterback KJ Jefferson.
The Sardis, Miss. native has seen year-over-year improvement as the Hogs starting quarterback, including some games where he showed he could be one of the best players in the Southeastern Conference.
Count Yahoo Sports as one outlet that believes that if KJ Jefferson continues his upward trajectory and the Hogs keep playing winning football, KJ Jefferson could be in the mix for the grand prize of college football.
Arkansas Football player KJ Jefferson could be a dark horse candidate for the 2022 Heisman Trophy
Jefferson as a Heisman candidate makes total sense. There were scores of people who were arguing that he should have been in the mix when he out-played Ole Miss QB Matt Corral.
In that game, Jefferson completed 25 of 35 passes for 326 yards, 3 touchdown passes through the air. On the ground, he recorded 20 rushes for 85 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.
Jefferson also led the Hogs down the stretch to give Alabama a scare at home late in the season. The sophomore completed 22 of 30 passes for 326 yards, 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Bama, who is ranked No. 1 in the country, has one of the most outstanding defenses in all of college football. Jefferson went toe-to-toe with him.
In total, Jefferson finished the regular season with 2,578 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 3 interceptions to go along with 554 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.
In comparison, this year’s Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young from Alabama, finished the season with 4,322, 43 touchdowns, 4 interceptions to go along with 31 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns.
If Jefferson can keep improving his passing yard numbers and keep torching opposing defenses with his legs, it’ll be really hard to keep the Razorback out of the Heisman Trophy conversation for the 2022 season.
The Arkansas Football team will play Penn State Jan. 1 in the Outback Bowl on ESPN2.