It's Jayden Daniels' Party, Jefferson's Just Lucky to Get Invited

SEC analyst makes it clear there will be only one star quarterback when Arkansas-LSU take field today

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Sep 23, 2023 9:43 AM EDT

In this story:

BATON ROUGE, La. – If Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson took time to catch the latest edition of "SEC Now" (not to be confused with "SEC Nation"), then Razorback fans may be in for the greatest game of his career despite the problems at offensive line.

Since this past March, all the talk has been the comparison between Jefferson and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. Well, from the Arkansas side of things. The other side of the coin, which appears to be the entire rest of the SEC, sees this as a one star game and Jefferson's not part of that equation.

Never mind that Jefferson has never lost to LSU in Baton Rouge or anywhere else on the planet as a starting quarterback. Also, ignore that Daniels has never had a good game against the Razorbacks despite his only game being against the worst passing defense in the country and one of the poorest in Arkansas history.

Nope. It's Jayden Daniels' world and Jefferson is just lucky he's getting a cameo.

"SEC Now" dedicated nearly six minutes to the Arkansas-LSU game. The only mention of Jefferson was to take a second to mention he didn't play last year. Instead, co-host Benjamin Watson spent nearly 3^1/2minutes expounding the greatness of Daniels. To kick things off, Watson declared the LSU quarterback may one day have a career similar to Tom Brady or Drew Breeze. No wonder Jefferson is getting so overshadowed if guys at the network like Watson have such lofty thoughts of Daniels.

"Jayden Daniels has taken the next step quarterbacks take," Watson said. "And when you watch LSU play, he's the primary reason why they've been so good offensively. He's going to keep on doing the things, not turn the ball over, play with patience, dealing with pressure, and also being very precise and accurate with his passes. That's why LSU's offense is looking as good as they're looking."

Co-host Dari Nowkah did mention at one point he thought the two teams have the best quarterbacks in the SEC, but in the Rapid Fire segment, when Watson was asked whether it was true or false that Arkansas-LSU gives fans the two best quarterbacks in the SEC, Watson stopped to think in it before reluctantly offering a soft "true." It came off as if he had been told to say it was true but really didn't want to say it. Considering he spent over three minutes explaining why Daniels may be the next generational quarterback, he wasn't holding back with his answer because he had doubts in the LSU signal caller.

To be fair, Jefferson has a lot to overcome. HIs offensive line is a mess and the play-calling hasn't done him a lot of favors at times. It also came out that last week Jefferson was playing banged up. It's why fans watched in confusion as he avoided contact and ran out of bounds short of a first down instead of going through contact to get the yards needed. It was smart of the coaches to drop that note into the postgame because the narrative to that point centered around Jefferson being tightly leashed for sake of his NFL prospects.

But if Jefferson watched himself continue to not truly be part of SEC quarterback conversations, no leash, real or perceived, can hold him in the bayou. Being banged up might not even be enough to get him to avoid being his old self against LSU if pain is still lingering. There's a spotlight, a struggling defensive secondary that is down a man and leader following the devastating loss of Greg Brooks to a brain tumor, and a need to showcase that he's still KJ Jefferson while going head-to-head with a quarterback everyone seems to want to fall over themselves to declare the greater quarterback.

It will be interesting to see whether a chip on Jefferson's shoulder is enough to overcome an insane crowd and a powerful LSU defensive front trying to shred a Razorback offensive line that has struggled at best. The answers will unfold tonight live from Baton Rouge at 6 p.m. on ESPN and FuboTV.