FAYETTEVILLE — Redshirt senior KJ Jefferson is listed as a quarterback to watch regarding the 2024 NFL Draft by ESPN’s Jordan Reid.

Jefferson has started 26 games at Arkansas including 24 in the past two seasons. He was injured and didn’t play against Mississippi State and LSU in 2022.

Jefferson opted to bypass the 2023 NFL Draft and return to Arkansas. According to Reid, Jefferson is among the best of the rest passers for the next draft. Reid has six quarterbacks among names to know. Then Reid listed 20, in alphabetical order, as the best of the rest. Reid wrote the following about Jefferson.

“Jefferson’s 6-foot-3, 242-pound frame and fearlessness outside the pocket make him difficult to bring down. He’s a highly competitive player who impacts the Razorbacks’ offense through the air and on the ground. He finished last season with 2,648 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and five interceptions, as well as 640 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Jefferson is an upper-body-reliant thrower, which causes his accuracy to suffer in some spots. After back-to-back 2,600-yard passing seasons, he has steadily improved but still must take another step in his development this year.”

In four seasons, Jefferson has completed 436 of 666 passes for 5,816 yards, 48 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Jefferson has rushed 362 times for 1,429 yards and 19 touchdowns.

At the top of Reid’s list to watch were USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and Oregon’s Bo Nix.

While no SEC passer was included in the six to watch, several joined Jefferson in the best of the rest list. The SEC passers in best of the rest, in addition to Jefferson, are Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Georgia’s Carson Beck, Kentucky’s Devin Leary, Tennessee’s Joe Milton III and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler.

Jefferson and Arkansas will open the 2023 season on Saturday, Sept. 2, against Western Carolina at 3 p.m. in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.