Eli Manning: Jaxson Dart did a ‘great job’ in 2022, looks ahead to 2023

Jaxson Dart has a fan in Eli Manning, an Ole Miss alum. Manning discussed Dart’s progress at the Manning Passing Academy held at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La.

Dart started last season after his transfer from USC and was solid under Lane Kiffin. Despite quarterback competition transferring into Oxford for 2023, Dart might be the guy once again.

Manning is excited for the Rebels quarterback and is certainly rooting for him and his alma mater.

“Yeah, I thought Jaxson did a great job,” Manning said. “He’s getting better each game, had  some big games, had some tough games and you learn from it. That’s part of playing college football. He hasn’t played a ton of football, so we’re gonna go through his experiences. Seems like he had a great spring camp and really kind of elevated his play.

“So (I’m) excited for him, got to speak with him and he wanted to be here. Just something came up so we understand that. Happens all the time, but we’ll be rooting for him and hope he has a big year this year.”

As a first-year starter, Dart finished the 2022 season with 2,974 yards, 20 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, a 62.4% completion percentage, 614 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.

When asked if he was more comfortable in the offense this year, Dart kept it simple.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Dart said.

Dart spoke about being a lot more comfortable with the offense but still needing improvements.

“Yeah, I mean, the Grove Bowl is a little part of what we do during the spring,” Dart said. “We’re kind of limited on our play calls and stuff like that. But, you know, I kind of just take the whole outlook of my spring from this year and last year and I thought I’ve made huge improvements. Now, I only turned the ball over once all spring so I feel like that was a big part of my progression. 

“I thought that last year, I got into, at times, to turning the ball over and made some dumb decisions, but I feel comfortable in the offense now to where I feel confident in my reads. The game slowed down a little bit. So I feel like I’ve made big strides and I look forward to continuing to develop.”

At this point, Ole Miss might go as Dart goes this coming season. It could be a big year for the quarterback.

The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon contributed to this article