KJ Jefferson May Be Tired of Losing at Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Sooner or later, the future for Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson is going to have to be addressed. The guy everybody looked to be the bright fixture when he started in 2019 has turned more than a little dark, but in fairness he's weathered dealing with a lot.
With a bonus sixth year available to him, would Jefferson really want to stick around to see what happens? Nobody really knows right now, but with a program that is sitting at 24-34 there's not a lot of upside. Especially when you factor in he's probably looking at his fifth offensive coordinator.
"We haven’t spoke about that with him," Pittman said Wednesday. You may not be the only one wondering why that's the case. "Probably going into the season, we thought definitely this would be his last year, but I don’t know where he stands right now."
After the embarrassing loss to Auburn on Saturday night, there's really not much point in Jefferson playing. About the only thing that comes to mind is Pittman wants to give him one last chance to go out with a huge game before call it quits. The Razorbacks are out of the running for any kind of bowl game, much less a big game. It's just for fun right now.
Or development. You'd think Pittman would want as much tape on Jacolby Criswell as possible and see Malachi Singleton in a game against people in another color uniform. Florida International on Saturday night shouldn't pose a particularly big challenge (if it does that will be a whole host of other issues).
"The problem has been all year that we’ve really never got into a rhythm, a consistent rhythm, either running the football or giving him time to throw the ball," Pittman said. "I’m sure that’s been very frustrating to him. Been frustrating, to be honest with you, for all of us. He’s been good with it. He’s gotten hit, he’s played through the hits. The other day, he was bleeding on his left hand and did not want to come out, did not ask to come out. That tells you a little bit about what he feels about the program and where he wants to finish strong and things of that nature."
The bottom line to all that is Pittman is trying to make the guys here happy and, hopefully, come back for another year by singing their praises. There's not really a different way to view that. You can view it however you want, but just remember the standard you might apply may not be the same ones of the quarterback and head coach.
The biggest question is how would Jefferson benefit from another year? Exactly why Pittman would want a ton of these guys back is beyond me. I go back to what coaches said over 50 years ago that the last thing you want is a bunch of guys coming back from a bad team. Seldom do they develop into winners.
Don't throw the 2021 team out there. Nobody has pointed out a bunch of guys like Grant Morgan that have developed into All-Americans and strong leaders. The Hogs don't have guys that will stand up and say they are sick and tired of the losing. It's either surprising or the players don't want to rock the boat they haven't expressed a view like that. It's the way of the world, since they are instructed not to put negative team stuff on social media.
It's also a problem when nobody can be at any part of the practices. That leads to speculation because nobody sees anything to base an opinion on. Which means we speculate. That simply leads down a path where the snowball you can't stop it without just blowing the thing up completely.
With the landscape of college football changing dramatically every year, things will get tougher in the SEC to be in the upper half of the standings. Texas and Oklahoma coming into the league guarantees it won't be any easier. The Hogs are simply desperate for a win, even if it's over a junior varsity team Saturday.
HOGS FEED:
FORMER RAZORBACK ALL-AMERICAN THINKS IT MAY BE TIME TO DIFFERENT DIRECTION WITH COACH
SAM PITTMAN KEEPING STATUS QUO IN PLACE AFTER 48-10 LOSS TO AUBURN AND NO BOWL GAME
HEAD HOG SAYS THIS IS THE STRATEGY THAT WILL GET THINGS BACK ON TRACK
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