No.459 4★, national recruit — the number KJ Jackson has built a role at Arkansas on.
6′4″ · 225 lb · Montgomery, AL
The numbers
passing yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far
Swing playSwung Utah from 62% to 86% to win.Arkansas at Utah · 43-10
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Junior quarterback for Arkansas. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
How he plays
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
Success rate: 72nd percentile.
The full scouting readBuzz vs Tape
The wider college football conversation reads him warmer than his own fans do — a gap of 33.6 points in belief.
Here's what we know about today's first scrimmage. Sounds like KJ Jackson and Chris Marshall had strong days as there were plenty of explosive plays from the offense…
Also worth knowing:
“So... NW Arkansas has Walmart and Tyson right at their doorsteps, they should be top 5 in the SEC for NIL funding and they have KJ Jackson as their QB... Arkansas fans deserve better.”
KJ Jackson
KJ Jackson is a cornerstone for Arkansas — measured against the line he joined.
4★ · NATIONAL RECRUIT
No.459
recruiting national rank
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-09-22
His career
Career arc
Badges
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Sam Pittman → Ryan Silverfield. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 31-14vs North Alabama | 24/35 | 267 | 3 | 1 | 7.6 | — | Season-high 267 yds |
| Wk 2 | L 10-43@ Utah | 14/34 | 139 | 0 | 1 | 4.1 | 38.8 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-45vs Georgia | 20/27 | 212 | 1 | 0 | 7.9 | 72.0 | |
| Total | 58/96 | 618 | 4 | 2 | 6.5 | 55.4 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 31–14
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Since week 2: +212 passing yards, +1 passing TD.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
Concern: explosive rate (22nd percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Season trend
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).
Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Adjusted ANY/A
5.6995 of 126 QBsSack rate
5.0%72 of 126 QBsSacked on 5.0% of dropbacks (72 of 126) and Adjusted ANY/A trails the field (95 of 126).
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Behind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
Overall 60.4% completion on 96 attempts · 10% completion on 10 deep attempts (20+ air yds).
Zeitgeist Passer Rating
2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.
Thin sample: 77 dropbacks36Zeitgeist Passer Ratingnot ranked until 125 dropbacks
--NCAA passer ratingno box-score line yet
Positive-play rate weight 24%
45.7%50th pct of FBS QBsshare of dropbacks that gained expected points · -4.9% schedule adj.Yards per attempt weight 56%
5.183th pct of FBS QBssacks excluded · -1.3 schedule adj.Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)
6.9%28th pct of FBS QBsthe input passer rating cannot see · +0.4% schedule adj.Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (24 of 101 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. Scaled against the 2025 FBS population until enough 2026 QBs qualify. How ZPR is built.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 240 | 2.0 | 7.8 | 0.5 |
| Road1g | 139 | 0.0 | 4.1 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 206 | 1.3 | 6.5 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Ryan Silverfield
Pass share
56.6%
125 pass / 96 run
Plays / game
73.7
3 games
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Play style
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
Balanced passer who operates within the system, without one standout number carrying the profile.
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Austin Appleby’s 2015 season.
Matches Austin on
Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Darren Grainger’s path through Georgia State.
Matches Darren on
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jarrett Guarantano's junior season at Tennessee (2020).
Matches Jarrett on
Differs from Jarrett on
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peaked at #165 this season.