Jaxson Dart, a senior quarterback at Ole Miss, will begin his third season as the team’s starter. Time flies, and the 2024 season will be Dart’s ‘final dance’ in collegiate football. However, this offseason has been very different for Ole Miss’ entrenched leader.
It’s the first offseason in his Rebel career in which he’s been the unquestioned starter leading all the way up to the season opener. Lane Kiffin’s applied pressure last offseason helped make a diamond out of Dart, who led his squad to the program’s first 11-win season to go with a breakout season himself.
After an underwhelming sophomore year (first in SEC), Dart came back out his junior season on fire, throwing for over 3,300 yards to go along with 31 total touchdowns (23 passing) to just five interceptions. Dart also engineered three crucial fourth quarter game winning drives. With about eight million viewers watching Ole Miss take on Penn State in the Peach Bowl, Dart accounted for over 400 yards of total offense and was responsible for four touchdowns (one rushing).
Reasons like that are why fans can find Dart right in the thick of things when it comes to 2024 preseason Heisman candidates.
Though Dart may not get the same national media attention like some of his fellow quarterbacks within the SEC, he can play with the best of them. There’s not many (if any) signal-callers Ole Miss would rather have to try to lead their group to a national title.
Earlier this week, Pro Football Focus put out their ’10 quarterbacks to know’ for the upcoming NFL Draft in over 10 months. To no surprise, Dart was among the 10 names written down. It’s been well-documented that another season similar or better to the one Dart had in 2023, could lead to him solidifying himself as a first round pick and the face of an NFL franchise in just a year’s time.
