Arkansas has its starting quarterback for 2026, and it's KJ Jackson. Pete Nakos and Pete Thamel both reported Sunday that Jackson beat out AJ Hill, the Memphis transfer who followed new head coach Ryan Silverfield to Fayetteville this offseason, to win the job.
KJ Jackson beat out Memphis transfer AJ Hill for the Arkansas starting QB job.
This wasn't a formality. Hill was a four-star recruit who started for Silverfield at Memphis before transferring in when Silverfield got the Arkansas gig after Sam Pittman's firing last fall. Coaches spent the preseason calling the battle 'neck and neck,' and as recently as mid-August there was no clear signal which way it would break -- Jackson needed to clean up his accuracy, Hill needed to speed up his decision-making, and the staff kept saying it could drag all the way to the opener.
Arkansas is going with KJ Jackson at quarterback.
Jackson's case is that he's already shown he can play under pressure. He stepped in for Taylen Green late last season and threw for 332 yards over Arkansas' final two games, giving fans a live look at what he could do before Green moved on. That stretch clearly stuck with the new staff, even with a Memphis transfer in the room who knows Silverfield's offense inside and out.
The bigger storyline here is Silverfield himself. He went 50-25 at Memphis and won 4 straight bowl games before Arkansas hired him away, and this QB call is his first real signature decision as a Razorback. Picking the in-house guy over the player he recruited and coached himself is a notable vote of confidence in Jackson -- and a sign Silverfield isn't just running it back with familiar Memphis pieces.
Arkansas opens the season against North Alabama on Sept. 5, which gives Jackson a low-stakes tune-up before SEC play gets real. Hill isn't going anywhere either -- expect him in the QB2 role and possibly package plays if Jackson struggles early. But for now, the job is Jackson's to lose.