Lane Kiffin explains how Jaxson Dart has handled additions to quarterback room

Jaxson Dart could’ve been the only guy for Ole Miss but there’s quite the competition in the Rebels’ quarterback room. With the additions of veteran Spencer Sanders and former four-star Walker Howard via transfer, Lane Kiffin explained how Dart handled the new-look room.

Kiffin was honest in his assessment of Dart. He improved from last year already.

But there were no decisions on a depth chart this early in spring practice.

“I think it’s been great for him,” Kiffin said. “I think that it’s natural for us not to, you know, want competition around and certainly understand that but I think it’s been really good for him. He’s looked great, which is strange to say for returning a starter, he’s probably one of our most improved players out there. And he looks better physically, mentally, everything so we’ve been very excited about him so far.”

Last year, Jaxson Dart played 13 games and finished the season with 2,974 yards, 20 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 62.4% completion percentage.

Sanders lit it up at Oklahoma State for four years and could very well be the guy in 2023 for Ole Miss. In four seasons, Sanders had 9,553 yards, 67 touchdowns, 40 interceptions and a 61% completion percentage.

Howard threw just six passes for LSU last season and elected to transfer. As a member of the Class of 2022, Howard was a four-star recruit out of Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 4 overall prospect in the state, the No. 6 quarterback in the class and the No. 45 overall prospect in the class.

Kiffin kept it pretty simple about the team as a whole.

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“I think that our offense is ahead of our defense, which is to be expected with the returning system back,” Kiffin said. “You know, and we got a brand new system on defense and a lot of new players and lost some good players, so I would say that would be my general assessment. A lot of work to do to develop depth on both sides of the ball, but also really excited about our guys and knowing that we will continue to improve with so many new guys.”

While the additions still have to play out, thus far Dart is handling them well enough for his head coach.