FAYETTEVILLE, ARk. - Offensive Coordinator Tim Cramsey and Head Coach Ryan Silverfield will decide on their starting quarterback after August. The competition may stretch into September between junior KJ Jackson and redshirt freshman AJ Hill.
Cramsey has been preaching calmness to the quarterbacks, Jackson told the the Razorback Daily.
"We don't use the word hot. Coach Cramsey doesn't use the word hot," Jackson said. "We're warm. We're always cool, calm and collected."
Jackson's faith is apparent. He told Razorback Daily why he chose the number 7:
"My late sister she was born on the seventh," Jackson said. "777, we all know that's the godly number and it means perfection. Tarvaris Jackson was a big influence in my quarterback journey. It's kind of a Montgomery quarterback thing to rock that number seven."
But there's another young man vying for the job, Hill transferred with Silverfield after his freshman year at Memphis.
"It has been going good for me and KJ," Hill said in April. "At the end of the day, it is a quarterback battle. But we love each other, and we love to compete with each other. Making each other better every day is going to have us ready for the season. At the end of the day, it is just going to be based on who can make the throws and the correct reads at the right time."
That really is the most important part of the job in this Cramsey scheme. You need to make the right read and get rid of the ball quickly.
It's when that read isn't there that Jackson or Hill can differentiate themselves. Perhaps scheme familiarity will win the day.
But whoever can deliver the ball while staring down a defender will be the one taking the first snap this season.
"I am real comfortable with the offense," Hill said. "I am not going to say I am a master of it yet, but I got it down pretty good. I am really just trying to hone in on the protection part of it, and I got the routes. We just have to get the timing right on a couple of more things, then I will be good."
Jackson has also put in the work to master the offense under Cramsey. He spoke of his commitment on the August podcast.
"I put in a lot of hours learning this playbook," Jackson said. "And I know that the cup is only half full because fall camp is going to be a good time and a great time for all the quarterbacks in our development."
If Jackson levels the playing field on scheme mastery, his athleticism and ability to escape pressure could turn the tide in his favor. It's a lot easier to stay cool under pressure when you know you can outrun guys to the boundary.
Cramsey said that Hill is honing his decision-making and trying to speed up his processing. That may be why some throws look ill-advised. The coaches are telling him to make quick decisions.
"He threw a ball across the middle yesterday on a Delta route to Ty Lockwood that I paused when he decided to throw the ball, and I said, 'He's not even close to being open!'" Cramsey said Aug. 6. "And somehow he squeezed the ball in between people for a 25-yard gain.
"We talk to him about making quick decisions, and sometimes right now, when he's trying to make quick decisions, those aren't great decisions. So now he's got to be able to make that quick decision a great decision."
As we enter the dog days of camp, Jackson could run away with this thing if he convinces the coaching staff that his performance against Texas and Missouri last year was no fluke.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arkansas as Coolest Head Prevails: Hogs QB Battle Will Come Down to Poise Under Pressure .
