Can Ja’Quinden Jackson be Rocket Sanders circa 2022 for the Razorbacks?
Former Utah running back Ja’Quinden Jackson is now current Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson. In his first spring with the Razorbacks, he’s ready to embrace the team’s No. 1 role in the backfield.
The senior earned that role with the Utes last year, running for 797 yards, a team high. But he also ran for just 4.9 yards per carry, down from 6.8 a year before, and four touchdowns, down from nine as a sophomore.
Jackson said the workload was not the problem with Utah. A nagging injury limited his effectiveness.
“It was a low ankle sprain, then it went. To my tendon in my foot,” Jackson said. “And my tendon in my foot kind of came off the bone. It was something that I really couldn’t do. Like, I had to let it heal.”
Because he missed the Utes’ bowl game and entered the portal, some fans developed a poor perception of him. The story was similar for former Arkansas running back Rocket Sanders, whose 2022 was also superior to his 2023 before he hit the transfer portal.
Jackson isn’t looking to replace Sanders per se, but if he can run for 1,000 yards or more and come near double-digit touchdowns in his first season with the Razorbacks, Arkansas football will be more likely to turn around last year’s 4-8 season.
“People talk about it from the outside looking in,” Jackson said. “They don’t really know what I had to go through last season for me to get those 700 yards and score touchdowns.”
Now, he’s ready to prove himself all over again.
