Jacolby Criswell’s importance to Arkansas football isn’t going unnoticed
An overlooked reason for Arkansas’ struggles last season had to do with the quarterback room. After KJ Jefferson went down with an injury, Arkansas has no reliable option to turn to.
Malik Hornsby didn’t have the experience or patience to become a legitimate passing threat and Cade Fortin just couldn’t run the offense anywhere near the level it operated under Jefferson. Arkansas lost both games sans KJ last season, and was only competitive in one.
Sam Pittman and his staff wanted to make sure they didn’t have that problem in 2023, so they added Arkansas native and North Carolina transfer Jacolby Criswell. Criswell’s addition is extremely important for the Razorbacks’ hopes despite not being talked about a lot.
One person who sees the importance of Criswell’s presence as well is Brad Crawford of 247Sports.com. In his rankings of SEC impact transfer quarterbacks, he included Jacolby Criswell at No. 9. Here’s what Crawford had to say about the Morrilton (Ark.) native:
A critical addition for the Razorbacks’ future once KJ Jefferson is off to the NFL after the 2023 season, Jacolby Criswell was a heralded recruit with the Tar Heels and has three years of eligibility remaining after playing behind Sam Howell and Drake Maye. Criswell is ahead of schedule according to his head coach.
“You look at a kid coming in, and Jacolby hadn’t played a whole lot of ball over at North Carolina,” Sam Pittman said in April. “To be where he is and what he’s done, I mean, he’s thrown some stuff in practice that was like crazy good.”
Hopefully the only time we see Criswell this season is in garbage time, when a game is well in hand. However, it’s safe to say that if something does happen to KJ Jefferson, the Razorbacks will be in much more capable hands than a year ago.
