Three’s the Magic Number: Jaxson Dart could level-up in 2024
Ole Miss junior quarterback Jaxson Dart was consistently one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC in 2023. And at times, he was among the best in the country. Several factors went into the Draper, Utah prospect taking a big step in the offense. His tight-knit relationship with Lane Kiffin, familiarity with the offense, camaraderie with his receivers and the guy named Quinshon Judkins made his encore campaign a huge success.
But, his season was more than just another 10-win regular season. It was actually right there with one of the best single seasons under center in Ole Miss history.
Matt Corral and the Rebels won 10 regular season games in 2021. And it was thanks in large part to the former signal caller. At one point, he had real Heisman dark horse hype. And even if Dart wasn’t in the same company in 2023, he put up some really impressive numbers which Corral would even raise eyebrows to.
Ole Miss dealt with injuries all year, but Jaxson Dart was a constant producer.
Kiffin’s bunch lost two games on the road to two Top 10 programs. Outside of those two setbacks, the Rebels led by Dart won games in all sorts of ways.
“Really well. I think he had the big passing games early and stuff,” said Kiffin, regarding Dart’s play. “I think that not having some linemen helped some different protection issues. And then we’ve got to work on calling plays a little different, especially against that defense.”
This year, Dart threw for 2,985 yards and completed 65 percent of his passes. Compare this to Corral’s 3,339 yards and 68 completion percentage and you can see how year two in the system helped Dart and Ole Miss take the next step.
“I think his leadership skills and his toughness can’t be questioned,” added Kiffin. “I mean you saw the hit he took – he’s going back in there before you can get him to not go in. You don’t even have a choice to hold him out.”
Jaxson Dart may not have toted it as much as Quinshon Judkins, but he was a key cog for the run game.
Dart ran for 377 yards and seven touchdowns this year. His toughness really showed in big games. He was a thorn in defense’s sides all year on third down and he was clutch in the red zone. Corral ran for 597 yards and 11 scores in 2021, but he was unable to get the program to 11 wins due to an injury in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor.
Now, Dart will have his chance to etch his name in the record books.
“I thought this team had a better chance than the previous year just because of the leadership that we have,” Dart said. “There was a standard that was put in place and a culture built. (The Ole Miss coaches) preach all the time about this being a player-led team. We really honed in on that, because we saw our inefficiencies last year when things got tough.”
The maturation in the passing game in year two was evident.
Both Corral and Dart threw 20 touchdowns in year two in Lane Kiffin’s system. But, the next step was a big one when you look at a few specific statistics. Dart’s total quarterback rating (161) was higher than Corral’s (155).
Furthermore, Dart’s yards per attempt (9.4) was almost a full yard more than Ole Miss’ passing attack in 2021 (8.7) when Corral threw for 354 more yards. This particular stat was a catalyst for Dart who had 60(!) plays of 20 or more yards this year.
Three Ole Miss wide receivers had 700 or more receiving yards this year. Jaxson Dart delivered week in, week out.
Tre Harris, Dayton Wade and Jordan Watkins all had breakout years in 2023. All three averaged over 14 yards per reception and had season-high catches of 56, 58 and 69 yards respectively. Dart was surgical at times this year, working through progressions and layering the football with precision. Later in the season when defenses zeroed in on Harris and Prieskorn returned from injury, Dart was patient and utilized the run game and the tight end over the middle.
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The Ole Miss quarterback dealt with some injuries himself. Dart had a nagging ankle injury all year and then the typical “bumps and bruises” a dual-threat quarterback accumulates going through an SEC slate.
“I just love the game,” Dart closed. “I told (an Ole Miss staffer), ‘cause he was asking, he was like, ‘Bro, are you good?’ I was like, ‘Dawg, you know that there’s nothing that can happen to me that’s going to keep me off the field.’
“Going through a full season in the SEC, you do get a little bumps and bruises and whatnot. Luckily, we have great doctors who help take care of us and a really good training staff that helps us get our rehab throughout the week so we can be able to play.”
Should Jaxson Dart return in 2024, Ole Miss could have Top 10 hype.
A few weeks ago at Rebel Talk with David Kellum, Kiffin confirmed Dart would return next season. However, Dart recently said he hasn’t made a decision yet, forcing Kiffin to walk back his previous comments.
Kiffin admitted he shouldn’t have said it and explained it’s part of trying to keep the roster constructed, even in the middle of a season.
“I probably shouldn’t have said that,” Lane Kiffin said. “That was a conversation between me and him and I kind of got caught off guard on saying that. I made sure right after I left the restaurant I said that to him because that’s not really my position to really say. When he’s ready to talk to you guys about that he will.”
“To be honest I haven’t really decided yet,” Dart said. “He kind of just said that to put positive vibes out there. I’m still going to go through this year. I haven’t really focused on making that decision as of right now. Got a lot of football left to play and once everything’s over I’ll make that decision.”
Needless to say, if he does in fact decide to return to Oxford, Miss., in 2024, Ole Miss will not only once again be in the thick of the SEC race, but with an expanded playoff the Rebels will have a real shot at “dancing”.
