Battle for future of Razorbacks football begins Saturday

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It wasn't supposed to be the case, but because of a shuffle in the football practice schedule, one of the most exciting quarterback battles in a long time on the Arkansas campus is going to kick off Saturday.

No, there is no threat to Taylen Green in the starting spot. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino would rather join those awkward Texas A&M administrators on stage doing those cult chants from a few days ago than willingly take the field without Green.

However, the future of the entire program begins to be determined with the first passes KJ Jackson and true freshman Madden Iamaleava throw in Saturday's team scrimmage. It's a full year battle that may not even be settled this time next year.

Right now Jackson is the veteran with the advantage of having a full year of the Petrino offense under his belt. On top of knowing the offense better, he has developed a reputation for being the guy who is going to take care of the ball and not make costly mistakes.

"It’s good competition in there, but I like KJ, and he’s made some good throws," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said earlier this month. "Learning continues. [Jackson] continues to learn, but I think we’ll all feel really comfortable when he goes in the football game."

Petrino can rest easy not only knowing Jackson is going to know the plays and his progressions, but that a drive isn't going to suddenly be killed by trying to force a ball where it shouldn't be thrown. That level of reliability is a big deal, especially coming off a season where most of Arkansas' losses came because of turnovers as the worst possible time.

The only drawback for Jackson at the moment is his lack of actual game experience. With Malachi Singleton taking all the snaps last year when Green went down with injuries, Arkansas has no idea for sure how Jackson will handle himself under the pressure of live game action in the SEC.

While Jackson appears to have the back-up role locked down in the short team, Iamaleava has made a huge push for the No. 3 quarterback designation and well on his way to making a push of Jackson when it comes to who is going to be Green's successor.

"But you’re right, right now [Iamaleava's] gotten, not all, but most of the three reps," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said. "So we’re trying to find — really right now KJ would be the two — and then we’re just trying to find out who that three is."

He is the natural talent who just jumps off the screen when his tape runs. While he is a long way from knowing the offense, he has quickly built a reputation of instinctually finding the open man even if the progressions might have been wrong.

"You know, Madden’s a special talent now," Petrino said earlier this week. "He can really get the ball out of his hands. He sees stuff and has a great, quick release. I know there’s times he drops back and he doesn’t know what the play is, but somebody pops open and he can stick it and put it right on their hands. The last guy that I coached that did that a lot as a true freshman was Lamar Jackson."

His gifted arm talent and how quickly he has grown over the past few weeks in spring practices have given him the aura of a prodigy. There's likely to be a wall that will pop up at certain points in full live action settings, but it's difficult to picture him having missed an entire football season because he was ruled to be an ineligible transfer his final season of high school.

"You know where you don’t see anything but all of a sudden they throw a post for a touchdown and everyone’s going, ‘Damn, how did he see that?’" Petrino said. "'That wasn’t even in his progression.' Now we do need to get him to know the plays. There’s no question about that. But that ability is something that is hard to coach. And his vision is just something that’s really good."

The last time Iamaleava officially touched the field, he threw for 3,626 yards and 43 touchdowns during his junior year. The following season he enrolled in Poly/Long Beach, a school he had attended before, but left after a semester to follow his brother Nico to Warren (a school in California not to be confused with the Lumberjacks in Arkansas).

When the state governing body ruled, his denial for transferring back to Poly with his sisters for his senior season was so harsh he was banned from playing there or anywhere else in California until Oct. 1, 2026. Still, without the final season of live work, he still possesses elite fundamentals.

"You’re not having to change anything in his footwork or his release," Petrino said. "That makes it a lot easier coaching him, I can tell you that, because now it’s all about executing the offense and seeing things and knowing what’s going on. I think he has a chance to be a really special player."

Battle for future of Razorbacks football begins Saturday

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