Jaxson Dart put the cherry on top of his proverbial ascension up draft boards ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft with a spectacular showing at the Ole Miss Pro Day.
On Friday, there were essentially no off-target throws — of 65 attempts — from the soon-to-be 22-year-old quarterback. That’s how it should be during a throwing session on air, even in front of a litany of NFL personnel.
Dart’s path to becoming a presumed first-round pick during this pre-draft process has been fascinating. Despite incredible productivity as a three-year, full-time starter at Ole Miss in the SEC, Dart wasn’t initially widely considered a top-tier prospect in this class. Encouragingly, Dart’s completion rate, yards-per-attempt average, passing-yard total, and touchdown-to-interception ratio steadily improved in all three of his seasons in Lane Kiffin’s offense.
It felt like once more draft analysts-and, more importantly, coaches and coordinators-joined the evaluation process, Dart was viewed in a similar vein as Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders in this quarterback class.
As his pro-day workout indicated, Dart is a smooth athlete with a live arm. He’s not elite in either area, but clearly checks those vital boxes in evaluations of the modern-day quarterback. His quick release was apparent during his throwing session, and, of course, during his three seasons in Oxford. Dart is a very natural thrower. There’s no hitch or wasted movement in his delivery. It’s very shortstop-like. He has the arm talent needed to pass the football accurately from a variety of arm angles and when he’s on the run.
With less than a month to go before the draft, Dart is my QB4 behind Cam Ward, Jalen Milroe, and Shedeur Sanders, and well ahead of my QB5s, Brady Cook of Missouri and Will Howard of Ohio State.
Other pro day standouts
After two reasonably unsuccessful seasons at Texas A&M — along with a litany of others who underwhelmed in College Station during that time frame — Walter Nolen erupted in his final season in the SEC with a strong 2024 for the Rebels. After 32 combined pressures created in those two years with the Aggies, he had 35 pressures last season at Ole Miss with a pressure rate of nearly 9.7% — 10% is normally the mark of elite-level production at the defensive tackle spot. He looks remarkably explosive upfield, and thereby decided to stick with what the film shows about his game, instead of giving quantifiable references with a full pro-day workout. The likely Top 20 (or so) pick only did the bench press, and his 27 reps would’ve been the fifth-most among defensive tackles at the combine. He was 6-foot-3 3/8″ and 300 pounds at the Ole Miss Pro Day.
Princely Umanmielen is another gem of a transfer who shined at Ole Miss in 2024. The chiseled edge rusher set a career high with 55 pressures in 2024 for Kiffin’s club after four steadily improving seasons at the University of Florida. He decided to stand on his numbers from the combine that led to a rock-solid Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 8.9 — a scoring system for pre-draft workouts by position on a 1-10 scale. Umanmielen could sneak into the back portion of Round 1 but feels more like a reasonably early Day 2 pick.
Cornerback Trey Amos followed Umanmielen’s lead and didn’t test at the pro day after posting a strong 8.72 RAS at the combine. He’s another transfer too, and actually spent time at a pair of other schools (Louisiana and Alabama) before culminating his collegiate career at Ole Miss. In 2024, the nearly 6-1, 195-pound cornerback registered interceptions and 13 pass breakups on the outside for the Rebels.
Wideout Tre Harris only did positional work too after running 4.54 with a 38.5-inch vertical at nearly 6-3 and 205 pounds in Indianapolis in early March. He was a big play waiting to happen for Kiffin on the outside and on slot fades — Harris averaged nearly 18 yards per reception on over 100 grabs in the past two seasons. He projects somewhere on Day 2 or early Day 3.
Other draft hopefuls-who could hear their names called in late April-from the Ole Miss program include the short but instinctive linebacker Chris ‘Pooh’ Paul, who led the Rebels in tackles with 88 last season, 11 of which were tackles for loss. He’s super-reliable on film as a tackler despite his small frame for the off-ball linebacker position. Towering edge rusher Jared Ivey could be drafted on his measurables and athleticism alone. He’s almost 6-6 and weighed 274 pounds at the combine with a wingspan in the 85th percentile at the position. He already has an NFL-caliber frame.
Lastly, defensive tackle J.J. Pegues might be the most compelling prospect in the class because of his background and versatility. The former Auburn tight end was reportedly introduced as an offensive weapon at the Ole Miss Pro Day at 6-foot-2 1/2″ and 309 pounds. Despite being reasonably new to the defensive side of the ball, there are impressive upfield rushes from him on film and even more dazzling runs with the football when he was plugged in on offense.
In 2024, Pegues had 42 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 14 tackles for loss along with 69 yards on 21 carries with seven touchdowns.
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Author: Chris Trapasso
March 28, 2025 | 6:51 pm
