KJ Jackson

#7 · QB · Arkansas6′4″ · 225 lb · Montgomery, AL · St James School

Graded Solid or better in each of the last two games.

Last game: L 10-34 vs No. 23 Missouri, Oct 31 · 20 of 34 for 229 yards, an interception, a lost fumble · 13 carries for 33 yards, a rushing touchdown. Started all eight of Arkansas’s games.

Arkansas’s next game: at Auburn, Sat Nov 7, 12:45 p.m. ET · SEC Network

Arkansas is 3-5 in the eight games played. A mobile passer.

Weakest: a touchdown on 3.0% of throws, 25th lowest of 158 starters.

Passing yards

1,673

151 of 249, 61%

TD–INT

7–5

6.7 per throw

NCAA rating

122.3

99th of 119

ZPR

40

87th of 119

How ZPR works

Solid or better in 5 of 8 graded games.

  • 0-4 against ranked teams, 184 passing yards a game.

Best by our grade: at Vanderbilt. Lowest: at Texas A&M, with 1 interception. Biggest game: Georgia, No. 2.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Season

Gets better after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Mobile passer

Why this word
Runs5.9 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws7.7 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes60% by play-by-playFewerMore
Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and runs some. 5.9 carries a game. Closest matches: Fife ’25, Vattiato ’25, Colandrea, Angeli.

Where the throws go

Behind the line16%typical 17%
Short50%typical 47%
Middle22%typical 22%
Deep11%typical 14%

Runs 5.9 times a game; 68% of starters run less.

Closest in style

Fife ’25Vattiato ’25ColandreaAngeliThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Fife ’25 New Mexico State 2025 · Balanced
    2,232 yards, 11 TD, 12 INT. Both score less.
  • Vattiato ’25 Middle Tennessee 2025 · Balanced
    2,157 yards, 16 TD, 7 INT. Both score less.
  • Colandrea Nebraska · Dual-threat
    1,824 yards, 15 TD, 7 INT so far. Close across the board.
  • Angeli Syracuse · Balanced
    1,186 yards, 7 TD, 5 INT so far. Both score less and are less efficient.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordArkansas is 3-5.
  • What fans say

    Over the last few games, Arkansas fans have been down on Jackson's throwing.

    “I say it every week KJ Jackson is genuinely the worst D1 quarterback I’ve ever seen play for any schooo”

    “KJ Jackson has the worst footwork I have ever seen in a quarterback and I'm a Raiders fan.”

    From r/CFB game thread. Read by AI.

What’s being said

8 stories in the last 30 days, from 6 outlets.

Oct 14: 1Oct 19: 1Oct 22: 3Oct 27: 1Oct 28: 1Nov 3: 1L 17-24 vs TennesseeLW 31-21 at VanderbiltWL 10-34 vs MissouriLOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Oct 14: 1Oct 19: 1Oct 22: 3Oct 27: 1Oct 28: 1Nov 3: 1L 17-24 vs TennesseeLW 31-21 at VanderbiltWL 10-34 vs MissouriLOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 3
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

All 76 stories this season

His most important play this season

  1. Q3, 4:28 · Arkansas breaks the tieKJ Jackson finds Jaden Platt for a 4-yard touchdownTennessee at Arkansas, week 6Q3, 4:28 · Arkansas 14, Tennessee 7Go-ahead score for Arkansas in the third quarterGo-ahead score for Arkansas in the third quarterK.Jackson pass complete short left to J.Platt caught at TEN00, for 4 yards to the TEN00 touchdown, kick goodWatch from this playESPN College Football

All 9 of his plays on video

KJ Jackson

QB · Arkansas · #7

On Trialas of Nov 4

KJ Jackson takes over from Taylen Green at Arkansas.

1,673passing yards7passing TD173rushing yards

PERCEPTION ABOVE TAPE · PCTL GAP

-33

perception vs production percentile · 2026

Arkansas fans are litigating the player's worthiness — the eye test against the résumé.

medium confidence24 sources

Minority viewA vocal minority sees it the other way.

The eye test files this player at the 59th; the résumé argues 26th. Fans haven't returned a verdict.

Read the story so far

KJ Jackson arrived as a 4-star prospect, the No.459 recruit nationally. KJ Jackson lines up at QB for Arkansas.

On the field, the headline is 1,673 pass yds, with 7 pass td.

KJ Jackson inherited the QB job from Taylen Green (3-star).

Arkansas fans are litigating the player's worthiness — the eye test against the résumé.

The number to watch: -33 — perception above tape · pctl gap.

QB successionleap of faith
  • Inherited fromTaylen Green 3★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04