Daily Prospect Analysis: Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss

For today’s daily prospect analysis we will be diving deep into the tape of Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. Dart led the Ole Miss rebels to an extremely impressive season with a 10-2 record in the regular season with the only losses being to the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide. Additionally Jaxson Dart led the Ole Miss rebels to win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against rival star quarterback Drew Allar. 

Statistically, Jaxson Dart was extremely impressive. Having just under 3.5 thousand passing yards along with 23 passing touchdowns and an impeccable 8 rushing touchdowns. This adds up for 31 total touchdowns compared to the minimal 5 interceptions Dart had last season. Jaxson Dart had a decent completion percentage at 65.1 to go along with the 16th highest quarterback rating in college football with 78.5. 

Athletically Jaxson Dart is without a doubt impressive, but doesn’t necessarily stand out in any department. He doesn’t have the ideal length you hope for from a quarterback, but he isn’t small either at 6’2 220 lbs. Dart has a strong arm and insane scrambling ability, but athletically they aren’t off the charts as the arm isn’t as strong as other elite prospects to come out in recent years and Dart only runs a 4.85 40 yard dash. Nonetheless Jaxson has shown to be a much stronger scrambler than that number suggests. 

When turning on the tape, there are plenty of great things you see from the Ole Miss quarterback. He puts an impressive amount of velocity on the ball, giving very little time for defensive backs to close in on the targeted receiver. The sheer velocity also allows Dart to fit balls into tight windows that many other college quarterbacks wouldn’t be able to throw, as well as allowing him to hit a receiver deep while running in stride for massive gains. Jaxson Dart certainly keeps his vision down field while scrambling, allowing for him to find a man open deep for a big game. However Dart certainly isn’t afraid of taking the ball himself as he’s proven to be a reliable scrambler who can make the play with his legs for chunk gains as well. I don’t want to undersell Dart’s ability as a runner. Dart has shown to break through tackles, outrun defenders, and even make multiple plays with the ball in his hands from jukes to even flashy hurdles. His throwing fundamentals are completely sound, giving him reliable accuracy, as well as having seamless adjustments of growing angles. This skill comes up constantly as his angle changes depending on the situation of the play. Dart has shown that he is great at reading a defense and utilizing pre snap adjustments constantly to identify defensive weaknesses in the secondary and exploit them for massive plays. Dart has also shown great anticipation with passes, threading the needle through tight windows at a consistent level. Jaxson displays great confidence for a young signal caller which is what you hope for as a promising young prospect. The aspect of Jaxson Dart’s game that especially stands out to me is his performance went under pressure. He has shown toughness to deliver a ball with defenders in his face about to get a sack, as well as having the ability to evade defenders, break through tackles, and throw dimes down the field while on the run. 

However Dart is no perfect prospect and there certainly are pieces of his game that still need work and plenty of coaching. Similar to most of the top quarterbacks of this class, one fundamental issue for Jaxson is inconsistent footwork which often ends up with Dart throwing off of his back foot for inaccurate passes. This is an issue that has proven to be coachable time and time again by NFL coaching staffs though. I believe Dart normally does a good job at reading defenses and protecting the ball, however something I don’t see Dart prepare for as much is protecting his own receivers. Jaxson has shown lack of concern when throwing to his weapons while defenders are closing in. The end result is Dart causing his guys to take multiple big hits causing potential injuries, and most certainly incompletions. One thing I’d like to mention that could be a positive, is Dart very quickly progresses through his reads. However, at various times he has shown to progress through his reads surprisingly too quickly, having his eyes abandon his receiver just before they get open and then struggling to find another receiver who has separation. This in some general managers eyes may be a positive problem that will take minimal coaching to fix, if they view it as a problem whatsoever.

Overall, if you’re a general manager of an NFL team then Jaxson Dart is an extremely intriguing prospect. With his fantastic scrambling ability and the upside to be the hero of an offense with his superstar potential at the next level Dart is sure to be a name raved about throughout the draft process. Dart has proven to be a reliable winner at the next level with consistent accuracy, and the ability to carry an offense uplifting the guys around him. Dart will likely be a boom or bust prospect heading into the 2025 NFL draft, but if Dart continues to improve each year as he’s shown to do then he will likely make for a fantastic first round quarterback prospect. 

As for my projections I believe Dart will continue improving as I have him throwing for 29 passing touchdowns with another 10 scrambling on the ground. I also have Dart throwing for over 4,000 yards on the year, while having 6 interceptions compared to his total of 39 touchdowns. With a projected season like this, I’m anticipating Jaxson Dart to be a first round pick in next year’s draft and I believe if he has enough of a jump from last year, he may even have the upside of being the top quarterback in the entire class.