UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson has been selected to the Davey O’Brien Award Preseason Watch List, the organization announced Thursday. Given annually to the nation’s best quarterback, this year’s list was selected based on previous Division I career player performance, as well as expectations heading into the 2024 college football season.
The 36-member preseason list features 22 seniors, 12 juniors and two sophomores. The list includes eight members from both the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12 Conference. Other leagues with multiple honorees include the Southeastern Conference (6), Big Ten (4), American (3), Conference USA (2) and Sun Belt (2).
Jefferson started all 12 games at quarterback for Arkansas last season, throwing for 2,107 yards and 19 touchdowns. He rushed 161 times for 447 yards and two scores. Jefferson became just the second three-time team captain in Razorback program history. He holds Arkansas career records for completions (626) , completion percentage (65.1), passing yards (7,911), passing TDs (67), total plays (1,481) and total TDs (88).
He is one of just three Arkansas quarterbacks to throw for 7,000 yards with 60 or more passing TDs. Jefferson’s completion percentage marks of 68.0 in 2022 and 67.3 in 2021 rank second and third in program history and his passing yardage marks from those two seasons also rank top 10 at Arkansas.
The Sardis, Mississippi, native turned in his best game of the season at LSU with a season-high 289 yards passing on 21 of 31 passing attempts with three touchdowns.
The official Davey O’Brien Midseason Watch List will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 22, and will contain active quarterbacks from the Preseason Watch List, players honored as weekly Great 8 recipients through the season’s first eight weeks and any additional quarterbacks approved by the selection subcommittee.
The Midseason Watch List will be cut down to the 35-player Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2024 on Tuesday, Oct. 29. For the fourth straight year, fan voting on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) will earn players bonus selection committee votes during the semifinalist, finalist and winner voting rounds. First-round fan voting will begin Oct. 29 following the QB Class announcement.
The list of semifinalists selected from the QB Class will be named on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The Foundation will announce the three finalists two weeks later (Tuesday, Nov. 26). The 2024 Davey O’Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 12, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The 48th Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner honoring the winner will be held Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.