Jefferson Clearly Top Quarterback for Hogs ... At Least Now
In fall camp, Sam Pittman has mastered the art of saying a lot without really saying anything when it comes to Arkansas' quarterbacks.
KJ Jefferson, though, is clearly the starter and Malik Hornsby is now established at No. 2, Pittman said Saturday.
Hornsby clearly had a good showing in the 150-play scrimmage, from all reports. The media was not allowed to view any of it.
"There’s not anybody in my opinion right now that’s that close to him as a 2-quarterback," Pittman said. "Whenever we get into live games and he’s able to use his feet and somebody’s not tagging him and the play’s down, he’ll be a really good quarterback for us."
Jefferson has the size, so there's more power there than Hornsby, who Pittman has said might be the fastest guy on the field when he's in a game.
"I don’t know that we’ll run the same exact offense with (Hornsby) in the game because we want to use his attributes," Pittman said.
On Saturday, Hornsby was making plays passing along with his legs.
"He can run now, and he can roll out and throw the football," Pittman said. "He’s getting better in the pocket, but he has to get better.
"When he’s running out he’s getting better at throwing the football and he’s a major threat with his feet."
The unofficial stats we were given after the scrimmage was an 80-yard run by Hornsby where he got in the open and nobody could catch him.
He also had a 45-yard scoring pass to John David White and a 15-yard score to Kendall Catalon.
Jefferson also had a good scrimmage, according to reports, but it was Hornsby's break-aways that got everybody's attention.
"Malik is a fast little bugger," defensive end Zach Williams said after the scrimmage. "You have to be outside of him. Like if you’re not, he’s just going to outrun you and put you in a blender."
Which is exactly what Pittman wants to see and Jefferson and Hornsby seem to be getting better at the mesh point, which Pittman said later he didn't see as being particularly complicated.
"We need to improve our quarterback reads," he said. "It's not like you're reading a dictionary. You're reading a 260-pound guy over there. If he's up the field I hand the ball of and if he's not I run it or throw it.
"We did a lot better job of that," Pittman said, "and KJ was part of that."
