NFL Combine: ESPN's Field Yates assesses Jaxson Dart's chance to land in 1st round of NFL Draft
ESPN analyst Field Yates said there is a chance star Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart sneaks into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft with his NFL Combine performance.
He does bring a lot to the table that could constitute a first round selection. There’s a lot to like about his record-setting run in Oxford.
“I think it’s Jaxson Dart from Ole Miss, who broke Eli Manning’s school record for passing yards this past season,” Yates said on SportsCenter. “He’s got a ton of experience. He began his college career at USC, finished up at Ole Miss, and he had a brilliant game to cap his college career against Duke in the bowl game. Good athlete, he can throw on the run as well. It’s going to be a transition, because the offense he played in at Ole Miss does not look a whole lot like most NFL offenses.
“That being said, when you combine the athleticism and the accuracy, I do think there’s a chance that by the time it’s all said and done, he sneaks into the first round. I had him going 21st overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers in my most recent mock draft.”
Dart set career highs during his final season at Ole Miss. He finished with 4,279 yards, 29 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 69.3% completion percentage. Over the course of his career with Ole Miss, and his freshman year at USC, Dart finished with 11,970 yards, 81 touchdowns, 27 interceptions and a 65.2% completion percentage.
NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein compared him to Gardner Minshew in his draft scouting report.
“Three-year SEC starter who saw improvement in play and production season after season. Dart has a stocky build and average physical attributes but good makeup and intangibles,” Zierlein wrote. “He’s fairly accurate and rarely overcomplicates things for himself. He won’t strike anyone as a running quarterback, but he can find tough yards on the ground. He can make full-field reads but looks more comfortable grazing from the trough of the simple. He will need to work with better anticipation and decisiveness to win in tight windows as a pro.
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“Teams might see physical and play similarities between Dart and Brock Purdy but such a pathway for Dart likely requires a balanced, ball-control passing attack that allows him to manage the game instead of driving it.”
Something he has not been in his college career, starting at Southern California and then the last three seasons at Ole Miss. Of course being a drafted rookie quarterback, potentially holding the clipboard comes with the territory depending on which team drafts him.
“I’ve never sat on the bench before. So, that would definitely be an adjustment early on,” Dart said. “But I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. I think it’s something that you can come into a situation and learn as much as you can. A lot of times when you’re in that situation, (you’re) playing behind a veteran quarterback who’s had a ton of success and just knows a ton about the game. So, you’ve got to be a sponge.
“I think a lot of times, you’ve seen some of the most successful quarterbacks come out of situations like that. You can bring up Patrick Mahomes, as of late Jordan Love. And for me, I’m excited to just have the opportunity and compete wherever I go.”
