FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coaches have known for about a month that wide receiver TQ Jackson of Jefferson, Texas, was going to be a Razorback, but he decided to share that with fans and the rest of the college football world on Monday.
Jackson (6-3, 185, 4.47), a three-star prospect, per ESPN, who has averaged 25.1 yards per catch in his high school career, is the Razorbacks’ seventh pledge of the 2019 class and the fifth on the offensive side of the ball.
He joins Memphis native and Bradenton, Fla., IMG Academy standout Shamar Nash (6-1, 196) to give Arkansas a talented duo of wide receivers with the Razorback staff hoping to add Warren superstar Treylon Burks (6-3, 210) – ESPN’s No. 84 player nationally in the 2019 class – to the wideout pledge list before all is said and done.
One can argue if Arkansas lands those three that it would be the best haul since future NFL players Joe Adams, Greg Childs and Jarius Wright all showed up in Fayetteville in 2008.
Jackson, who was one of the nation’s best 160 players invited to Nike’s The Opening last summer, does not lack for confidence as evidenced by the fact his commitment announcement on Twitter stated “I WILL Be a Freshman All-American.”
Bold statement, but nevertheless a belief in himself that is refreshing to see for a program that could use some of it after the past couple of years.
Jackson has great speed for his size with a 4.47 laser time put down at the ETSN/APEC East Texas Combine in Tyler back during the summer of 2017.
Jackson should be a deep threat for a coaching staff that will take far more shots downtown than the former staff.
He also catches the ball with his hands instead of cradling it with his body, something that is done all too often these days by young receivers.
Jackson also has a nice frame and should be able to add 20-30 pounds of muscle by the time he steps on the field for the first time in a Razorback uniform.
Jackson, who had some 20 offers and originally planned to make his announcement public on July 21, chose Arkansas over TCU, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech, Missouri and others.
Former SMU and current Arkansas head coach Chad Morris and associate head coach Jeff Traylor, who has deep East Texas ties, offered Jackson for the Mustangs back in May of 2017 and did so for the Razorbacks just a few days after their arrival in Fayetteville last December.
Traylor won three state championships as head coach at Gilmer and appeared in two more title games. Traylor is so beloved in Gilmer that the team’s stadium is named in his honor.
Jackson has caught 81 passes for 2,037 yards and 23 touchdowns the past two seasons for Jefferson. He broke out as a sophomore when he caught 41 passes for 1,099 yards and 11 touchdowns, which obviously got the attention of Morris, Traylor and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock.
The Arkansas 2019 class now has the two wide receivers, a highly-regarded quarterback in Sardis, Miss., North Panola’s KJ Jefferson (6-3, 211), a pair of offensive linemen in mammoth Joseph Stone (6-8, 340) of Trusville, Ala., Hewitt-Trusville and Tyler, Texas, Lee’s Beaux Limmer (6-5, 270), Rison cornerback Malik Chavis (6-2, 190) and Douglasville, Ga., Douglas defensive end Mataio Soli (6-3, 225).
That group – all of which are three-star prospects – is currently ranked 60th in the 24/7 team rankings.