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Player comparisons in NFL draft evaluations are usually oversimplified, especially at quarterback positions. Every quarterback who can run is compared to Lamar Jackson. Every quarterback with a big arm is the next Josh Allen. In any case, player comps aren't going anywhere, and they've already started in this year's batch of 2025 NFL Draft scouting reports. In breaking down Ole Miss football quarterback Jaxson Dart, many analysts are drawing comparisons to Denver Broncos signal-caller Bo Nix, formerly of the Oregon Ducks, per CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz and John Talty.
“Well, he's coming off the best game of his life (but) he's a low-end starter or high-end backup (as a prospect),” an NFL personnel official said. “Has some athletic ability and just enough arm, but I worry about his innate accuracy. Super competitive, maybe a little over the top. Somewhat in the same boat as Bo Nix. Has some traits but some negatives and is not as accurate.
[Would be] overdrafted as a (round one pick). Probably a second or third-round pick. … It's a college RPO-based offense. Not much NFL carryover.”
And another scout had a similar opinion.
“Someone probably takes him earlier than he really should go,” he said. “Average to above average arm. Average anticipation. Has gotten better there. Doesn't really stand in the pocket and deliver enough, drifts away, but at least he takes care of the ball.”
Dart and the Ole Miss Rebels had a huge game last week against the Arkansas Razorbacks, winning 63-31. Dart completed 25-of-31 passes for 515 yards, six touchdowns, and 10 rushes for 47 yards. In nine games this year, Dart has 3,210 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and three interceptions with a 71.1 completion percentage.
Jaxson Dart among candidates to be a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft
Dart is rising, but the full breadth of his game tape shows him to be an up-and-down quarterback prospect, as explained by The Athletic's Dane Brugler.
“Dart has a Jekyll-Hyde quality,” Brugler wrote. “If the Arkansas game Saturday was your first exposure to him, you would guess he is in the top-10 conversation; if you watched the Kentucky or LSU games, you saw a much more inconsistent player.”
Who will end up as the No. 1 pick is still up for debate? Per betting odds, the top choices appear to be Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, Miami QB Cam Ward, and Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter.
Draft evaluations are in the eye of the beholder, especially in a year where there isn't a consensus first pick. Before the season, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was viewed as a potential top pick, but Beck's stock has come down as well. So far this season, it seems every time a new player gets the No. 1 pick spotlight, they are quickly downgraded out of contention.
