Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart enters matchup against Kentucky looking to establish 2025 NFL Draft ranking
Starting out to a red-hot 4-0 start, ranking first in points scored and points allowed, the Ole Miss Rebels are living well. Sure, Lane Kiffin's bunch have had one of the weakest schedules in the country in the first month of action, but the start of the SEC schedule will change things. At the heart […]
Starting out to a red-hot 4-0 start, ranking first in points scored and points allowed, the Ole Miss Rebels are living well. Sure, Lane Kiffin's bunch have had one of the weakest schedules in the country in the first month of action, but the start of the SEC schedule will change things.
At the heart of Week 5 is the Ole Miss vs. Kentucky matchup, and 2025 NFL Draft evaluators will be watching carefully. Quarterback Jaxson Dart has the most to gain and maybe the most to lose in the matchup.
Jaxson Dart Draws NFL Draft Interest vs. Kentucky
Dart is a fascinating 2025 NFL Draft evaluation. He leads the nation with a ridiculous stat line, completing 79.8 percent of passes for 1,554 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 13.1 yards per attempt. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder has been running this explosive offense with near perfection. His PFF grades on 20-plus-yard attempts help encapsulate how unstoppable they've been.
So, all of this points to Dart being a top quarterback in next year's class, right? Not quite, at least yet.
Dart has good athleticism as a runner and can move effectively within the pocket as he buys time. He has plenty of arm talent to execute a quality NFL offense. He's finding chunk plays left and right, so he's at least capable of seeing the field pre-snap and hitting throws he should.
All of this is good, and if he continues to do this throughout the rest of the fall, even at a much lower efficiency rate, Dart can absolutely be a starting NFL quarterback and earn a first-round grade and pick. However, after seeing Dart in 36 games over four years, evaluators are still unsure of his potential.
There might be an element of overthinking Dart here, but Kiffin's offense is so friendly and favorable to create advantageous situations that it reduces the importance of the quarterback. Dart's passing splits between being in a clean pocket and when under pressure certainly raise some questions.
It's normal to see performance dip when teams blitz and when some pressure gets through. But Dart is a completely different player when he's blitzed, especially when someone has a lane to attack him. Dart goes from Peyton Manning when clean to an unstartable NFL option when pressured.
Instead of knowing where to go with hot reads, Dart's time to throw in 2023 swelled from 2.37 seconds when clean to 3.55 seconds when under pressure. His adjusted completion rate dropped from 78.7 percent to 59.7 percent. Dart's turnover-worthy throws were a full percentage point higher despite his average distance dropping from 10 yards to 7.3
A lot of this points to Dart being adjacent to someone like Ryan Tannehill or even Geno Smith in the NFL. Is that worth a first-round pick in the NFL? It's debatable and more dependent on the situation than an ironclad yes.
Dart can start to change those narratives and tendencies this week.
