After a promising start to the 2022 campaign, the Hogs season has started to come unraveled. Since starting the season 3-0 the Razorbacks have lost 3 consecutive games and have for all intensive purposes have also lost any hope of making the College Football Playoffs. While a chance to compete for a National Title may no longer be in the cards for Arkansas, plenty of their players are still expected to be selected in this upcoming draft, including KJ Jefferson. A projected 4th round pick, Jefferson would make perfect sense for Dallas Cowboys as a developmental player. The 6’3 243 pound Jefferson is a physical player that can impact the game with both his arm and his legs. His size, athletic ability, and accuracy on deep balls are Jefferson’s most defining traits that will translate at the next level. While Jefferson has some holes in his game his upside and potential are worth teams taking a chance on him at the next level.
Similar to Prescott
Dak Prescott is the undisputed starter in Dallas. Since entering the league in 2016 Prescott has amassed 53 wins in 86 starts, the 5th most wins by a QB in that time frame. Despite Prescott’s success on the field he has been plagued by the injury bug recently and is expected to miss his 17th game since 2020 Sunday night when the Cowboys travel to Philadelphia. With Prescott’s recent injury woes and with only two seasons left under contract it makes perfect sense for the Cowboys to bring in a young QB they can develop behind him. While not as refined, Jefferson is a similar player to Prescott. Both can make and extend plays with their legs and athleticism and thrive on play-action and RPO concepts. While Jefferson has issues with his throwing mechanics so did Dak early in his career and he has since developed into a top 10 passer in the league statistically. Jefferson would have at least two seasons to sit and develop behind Prescott and could either stay in the backup role if Prescott re-signs with the team, or Jefferson could step in as the starter with two years of time in the system under his belt if Dak decides to leave once his contract is up.
Jefferson has the arm talent and athleticism to eventually excel at the NFL level and as a player who is expected to be a late round pick he is a low risk high reward player who’ll have the luxury of learning behind a pro bowl quarterback with a similar skill set.