Jefferson on Manning Award watch list for third straight season
The preseason accolades continue to roll in for Arkansas senior quarterback KJ Jefferson, who added the Manning Award watch list to his resume for the third consecutive year.
Jefferson has already been included on the 2023 watch lists for the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Awards.
The Manning Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback, was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of college football stalwarts Archie Manning and his sons, Peyton and Eli. It is the only QB award that includes bowl performances as part of the criteria.
Jefferson is already regarded as one of the top quarterback in Razorback history, after setting a number of single-season records, but is poised to climb even further up the list this season by rewriting some career records. The Sardis, Miss., native, is already in the Top 10 in several categories, including 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).
He already owns two of the top three season for completion percentage, with 68 percent in 2022 and 67.3 percent in 2021 — trailing only Tyler Wilson’s top mark of 68.5 percent in 2011.
After Jefferson passed for 2,648 yards and 24 touchdowns last season, with an additional 640 yards and nine scores on the ground, he became the first Arkansas quarterback to earn preseason All-SEC accolades since Wilson in 2012.
