KJ Jefferson 2025 NFL Draft Profile

KJ Jefferson 2025 NFL Draft Profile

We’re rolling through these draft profiles and getting the quarterbacks who didn’t get invited to the Combine out of the way. KJ Jefferson is next up on the 2025 NFL Draft profile series. Let’s have a quick chat about Jefferson’s possible NFL future!

The UCF product has been around the college game forever. It feels like he should have been in the NFL two years ago. We’re talking about a guy who was part of the 2019 recruiting cycle. Jefferson who hails from the State of Mississippi, was the 5th ranked duel threat QB that year behind all names you will recognize. The list in front of him includes Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Sam Howell, and Max Duggan. So when you smirk at recruiting rankings, you probably shouldn’t. They absolutely have merit.

There was a period of time when Jefferson felt like he had real potential. 2019 and 2020 he was used sparingly as a backup. Mostly in power-run situations. 2021 and 2022, he was the full time starter at Arkansas. He posted a 45-9 TD to INT ratio and was over 67% completion both years. I started to use the comp to poor man’s Cam Newton in my stock report notes for him. If you want to read those notes, here are two examples (from 2022 version / 2024 version).

The problem is we got to 2023 and it felt like he regressed across the board. Every stat you want to use got worse across the board. Touchdowns, picks, completion percentage, yards per attempt, all down across the board. What was more concerning is that his rushing stuff plummeted too. 2.8 yards per attempt with two rushing touchdowns was a drastic decline from the prior two seasons.

That’s when the former Hogs quarterback decided to transfer to UCF during his final college season. Let’s just say things didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Jefferson, 23, has one thing really going for him. The dude is big. He’s a legit 6-foot-3, 247. The problem is the size and his skill set, there’s really only one way to win with him. Something that Gus Malzahn tried to do with his high school offense and it failed miserably this past year at UCF. Everything went to hell. Jefferson’s completion percentage fell below 60%, the rushing stuff looked like the bad version from the season prior, and he was totally reckless with the ball. 7-4 TD to INT ratio says it all. There was the weird Week 3 comeback over TCU but that was pretty much the highlight of the season and none of it happens without RJ Harvey. Jefferson later got benched after the Florida game five games into the season.

Hudson Card 2025 NFL Draft Profile

There is really only one way to look at this at this point. If your coaching staff thinks Jefferson can be a Taysom Hill project, that’s the only way this thing makes sense. I’d just be concerned about the fact that he lost juice in the run game. Maybe that’s a product of just not being lean and getting too thick? Beyond the Taysom Hill route or a change to fullback, it’s hard to suggest there is any real value here. When you don’t get invited to the Combine when the entire league is desperate for quarterbacks who have lick of talent, you know there’s a flaw in his game. He just never took those needed strides as a passer either. Jefferson is an undrafted player but if you’re looking for reasons to follow his journey, maybe he can become the next Taysom Hill.

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