After putting up some impressive statistics as the starting quarterback at Ole Miss over the past three years, Jaxson Dart’s climb up draft boards this offseason resulted in him being the second QB selected in this year’s draft. The Giants did not want to take a chance of missing out on him, trading back into the first round to guarantee that they got their guy.
Despite his first-round pedigree, the Giants will not rush Dart into action haphazardly. Looking to develop their young signal caller properly, the team signed veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston this offseason to help get their passing game back on track. However, if the team sputters out of the gate and the future of the Giants’ front office hangs in the balance, how long will we have to wait before we see Dart on the field?
If you want to dive deeper into the 2025 rookie class, pick up the 2025 RotoViz Rookie Draft Guide and check out the rest of our rookie preview series:
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
- R.J. Harvey
- Kaleb Johnson
- TreVeyon Henderson
- Cam Skattebo
- Omarion Hampton
- Devin Neal
- D.J. Giddens
- Ashton Jeanty
Wide Receivers
- Emeka Egbuka
- Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel
- Matthew Golden
- Tre Harris
- Pat Bryant
- Tetairoa McMillan
- Kyle Washington
Tight Ends
Jaxson Dart’s NFL Comps
Dart committed to USC as a four-star recruit and 13th-ranked QB in the 2021 class before transferring to Ole Miss prior to his sophomore season. Dart grew as a passer in each of his three seasons in Lane Kiffin’s offense while also threatening defenses with his legs.
Kiffin’s up-tempo offenses rely heavily on motion and big plays, resulting in some bloated statistical profiles for his players. To level the playing field, we’ll remove throws on plays that utilize jet motion and play action while also traveling a minimum of 6 air yards to create a dataset of scheme-adjusted (SA) throws.
Of Dart’s 398 pass attempts in 2024, 100 of them (25.1%) were of the SA variety, down from 110 SA throws on 359 attempts in 2023 (30.6%). While Dart was efficient on these throws, he generally fell behind Dillon Gabriel, Cam Ward, Jalen Milroe, and Shedeur Sanders when looking solely at the 2025 rookie class. Where Dart shined the brightest last year was in his 44.0% passing boom rate on SA throws, which trailed only Ward and Gabriel over the past two years among NFL-caliber QBs. Dart’s big-play ability was also highlighted by Shawn Siegele in the 2025 RotoViz Rookie Draft Guide:
Dart led the SEC with 4,279 yards in 2024, while leading the nation in adjusted net yards per attempt (11.5) and passer rating (180.7). Among our early-round contenders, he was easily the most aggressive vertical passer in the group, averaging 168 YPG on passes that traveled at least 15 yards in the air. He gapped the prospect field with a 70% on-target rate and 15% TD rate on deep passes.
Despite his penchant for big plays, Dart has demonstrated excellent ball security over the past two seasons, scoring 63 total touchdowns against 11 interceptions and six fumbles. Given that Dart was used heavily in the run game, his ability to protect the ball becomes even more impressive. As a runner, Dart posted solid marks of 0.139 points earned per play and a 16.1% evasion rate (4.8% broken tackle rate, 11.3% forced missed tackle rate) on his 124 rush attempts in 2024 that included 28 sacks.
Dart’s profile was enticing enough for the Giants to trade back into the first round to select him 25th overall. His profile brings in an intriguing list of comps in the Box Score Scout, but it is not without its concerns.
