That didn’t turn out as planned

I have never really been a real K.J. Jefferson fan.
He made so many poor choices on the field. He was just not the leader that a school like Arkansas needed.
I will not forget the dive against Texas A&M in 2022. He attempted to jump from the 5-yard line to score a touchdown. First, he doesn’t have that kind of leaping ability and secondly there was a solid line showing where the five was. If he didn’t notice that, then, well, uhh, anyway. He fumbled the ball and the Aggies picked up the momentum and beat us.
I was so thankful when he was given the football to take the lead against Liberty late in the game. I knew my Flames were going to win that game.
Sure enough. They did. Go Flames. Beat Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. What a difference in a year between Arkansas and Liberty. Arkansas has tanked and Liberty is a New Year’s Day bowl.
K.J. was hitting the portal at the end of the season. I don’t think anyone begged him to stay.
Heading into the season, he was believed to be a top two quarterback in the SEC. That didn’t work out for him or us.
He didn’t have a very good offensive line in front of him. He didn’t have a very good offensive coordinator. But his heart wasn’t in it. Anyone that watched a game could tell.
Jefferson was listening to too many people around him. They said he could go else where and make more jack with NIL.

He made $555,000 last year. That was about a half a million too much.
The quarterback jumps into the portal and he doesn’t hit the top 10 of the available quarterbacks.
As a matter of fact, he was hanging around the No. 20 spot and struggling to stay out of the bottom 10 of the list of quarterbacks leaving their school.
Jefferson has a limited skill set. Maybe not limited, but he fits a certain football system. Most elite college teams use a progression read system. That is not Jefferson’s strength.
The quarterback will find a place to go. The amount of money that he will make will not be equal to the amount he made this year. I am sure that wasn’t in his plans.
Good luck K.J. This will be the last year that you will get paid to play football if all indications from experts are correct.
Thanks for all that you did for us…I think.

Jeff Brasel is the sports and managing editor of the Newton County Times. E-mail him at sports@newtoncountytimes.com or follow him at twitter.com/jeffbrasel.