Nick Saban marvels at unique challenge KJ Jefferson presents

Nick Saban has coached against a lot of different and great quarterbacks in his time at Alabama: Cam Newton, Trevor Lawrence, DeShaun Watson, Johnny Manziel, Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow and Kyler Murray, to name a few.

And though some of the aforementioned are surely better than the quarterback Alabama will face this week, but Saban hasn’t seen anybody quite like Arkansas’s KJ Jefferson.

“Not really,” Saban said. “This guy is pretty unique. He does a really good job of executing what they want to do on offense whether it quarterback runs, whether it’s passing the ball, whether it’s scrambling, extending plays and passing play, being able to make plays with his feet but also extend plays and make plays down the field.

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In 2021, the dual-threat quarterback accounted for more than 3300 total yards and 27 touchdowns for a resurgent Arkansas team. He used his combination of big arm and bruising running ability to help the Hogs to a 9-4 season.

He’s off to a great start to 2022, completing more than 69% of his passes and accounting for 12 total touchdowns and more than 1200 yards through four games.

Now, with Arkansas sitting at 3-1 following a demoralizing loss to Texas A&M, Saban knows how dangerous of a Razorback team this. Arkansas hosts Alabama at 3:30 ET and has the goods in the trenches to give the Crimson Tide more than a fight.

And Jefferson, the man tasked with marshaling the assault on the field for Arkansas, is where it all starts, and where Saban is making sure to be prepared.

“So, he’s a pretty unique guy,” Saban said. “And big, physical. Hard to tackle, hard to sack. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the way he plays.”