NFL Draft film room: Jaxson the Dart thrower

What could the Ole Miss product bring to Las Vegas?

We’re working our way through the quarterback prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft, focusing on the competitive QB3 battle that the Las Vegas Raiders figure to be in the thick of. One contender is Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, who will also be participating in next week’s Senior Bowl.

Dart put up impressive numbers for the Rebels last season, leading the SEC in completion percentage (69.3 percent) and passing yards (4,279) while tossing 29 touchdowns. What stands out about the completion rate is he also pushed the ball down the field, topping the nation with 10.8 yards per attempt, per Sports Reference.

Diving into more advanced numbers, the Ole Miss product also led the conference with a 91.1 passing grade from Pro Football Focus and 29 “big-time throws” while ranking second with a 6.9 percent BTT rate. Among all FBS quarterbacks, those figures were second, fourth and ninth (minimum 129 dropbacks), respectively.

So, let’s flip on the tape and see what the 21-year-old (turns 22 in mid-May) could bring to the Raiders.

As the stats above suggest, Dart has good arm strength to push the ball down the field and throws with decent velocity to keep his passes on a line. Also, he can make throws from the far hash to outside the numbers and has solid accuracy in the vertical passing game.

From the clips above, the fourth one against Duke is the best example of what’s outlined above. The defense is in Cover 1, so Dart knows the slot receiver has a one-on-one matchup on the slot fade route. Once the wideout wins, he lets it rip and drops the ball right in the bucket across the field for a 21-yard touchdown.

Also, he stands in the pocket and takes a shot right after releasing the pass. More on that in the next section.

As previously referenced, another strength of Dart’s game is the ability to throw under pressure. He led SEC quarterbacks with a 64.8 PFF passing grade and a 9.0 percent BTT rate under pressure, and the latter was fifth-best within the Power Four conferences (minimum 83 such dropbacks).

This goes hand-in-hand with the Ole Miss product’s arm strength as he can take a hit and still push the ball down the field. While it was an incompletion, the first throw above against Wake Forest highlights that.

The Demon Deacons are in Cover 4 while the Rebels run a switch release with a post route that the top of the screen. So, Dart has a one-on-one matchup but it’s a longer developing play, meaning he must stay patient in the pocket and let the route concept develop.

The pressure eventually gets there, preventing the quarterback from finishing the throw, but he still manages to sling it down the field. Unfortunately, the defensive back makes a great play and the receiver loses the ball while going to the ground, so this all goes for naught on the stat sheet. But this is still one hell of a throw while taking a hit.

Dart is pretty impressive when targeting the middle of the field between the second and third levels of the defense. On passes between the numbers and within the 10- to 19-yard range, PFF charted him with 41 completions on 54 attempts (75.9 percent) for 841 yards, eight touchdowns to one interception and a 149.3 NFL passer rating.

A big reason for that is Dart has good touch on these types of throws to get the ball over the linebackers’ heads and drop it in before safeties can get to the ball. The third pass above against Duke couldn’t have been a better throw as he hits the tight end on the seam route, putting just enough arc on the ball to beat the backer. Additionally, that one was another nice throw under pressure.

Finally, Dart is a solid athlete to make plays with his legs as well. He racked up 1,981 rushing yards (excluding yards lost via sacks, per PFF) for 14 touchdowns, including 648 yards and three scores this past season, and has some natural rushing ability which the first clip above shows.

Ole Miss runs a variation of the triple option where the running back runs power and the outside receiver at the top of the picture has a screen route as the third potential ball carrier.

The quarterback sees the unblocked defender crash inside on the back, so he pulls the ball and keeps it. Then, he pump fakes the screen to the receiver which forces the cornerback to stay home or near the sideline to cover the receiver. That combined with stemming inside to set up the slot receiver’s block creates an outside rushing lane, which Dart jump cuts into to pick up the first down.

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To help paint the full picture, Dart played in a very quarter-back-friendly offense that used a lot of simple/one-read passing concepts. That has hindered his processing as he’s slow to get through his reads and will miss open receivers down the field. Also, he doesn’t throw with anticipation which could even be seen in some of the clips above.

All of that has to change at the next level and will likely take some time to develop. But Dart does have talent to work with if the Raiders’ coaching staff is willing to be patient and work with him.