Jaxson Dart goes to the NFL.
Dart’s concept stock is one of the most fascinating stories of the entire NFL design season 2025. If you look at his trendline NFL Mock Draft Database” Dart would already French selection in January at day three.
Since then you have set up concept signs, and in the hours prior to the first round many fake concepts had him as the second QB of the board. Both Daniel Jeremiah and Dane Brugler, for example, had Dart and QB2 in their trial versions.
Now those predictions need correctly, because the New York Giants exchanged back in the first round to crazy with the number 25 pick. New York carries out a trade with the Houston Texans, which Houston sends on 2025 Second Round Pick (no. 34), 2025 Third Round Pick (no. 99) and at 2026 Third Round Pick for Houston’s choice at number 25.
And the rights to draw up dart.
This is what Dart does well, and where he should improve to realize expectations.
A QB that will take the blow
Many features go in a quartz back evaluation. Arm talent, accuracy, footwork, decision-making and athletics are all prominently present on reconnaissance reports. Questions such as character and leadership often occur in the comparison.
It is to draw that from Zommers under the surface, but in many ways there is no replacement for it.
The willingness to stand in the bag, to accept that a person is much larger, stronger and faster than you are about to see you in the shady, and still standing in the face of that to make a throw.
Quarterback is a position with so much complexity, which means that assessing the position one of the most difficult things to do in the evaluation room. Apart from what properties matter, there is the factor how the properties are weighed in the evaluation. If a quarterback does not have a poor at elite level, can they make up for this decision-making and processing of Sperd? If they don’t miss top athletics, can they balance that with poor talent?
But AIs have not been replaced because they are willing to be in the bag, knowing that pain comes on you.
It is perhaps the most unnatural feature in the sport, above that with climbing in the boxing ring or during the corner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with 245 thousand per hour with a wall for you. Natural human thinking in your brain says you have to run. To Phlee. The flight reaction starts.
But do you want to fight instead?
Often when studying quarterbacks, writing them, or both I turn to the words of people who are much smarter than me. People who have been in the ring, on the sidelines, when it mattered.
Terry Shea’s oeuvre absolutely stands out, and his book Upwards Contains wealth of knowledge about the quarterback position gained by decades of experience.
The subtitle of that book is also instructive here: The men coach with the guts to play the most challenging position in football.
Take this passage from Eyen Up:
It can be claimed that toughness mental and physically important as talent or self-confidence. One of the most challenging factors about Quarterbacking is adapting to the mental and emotional pressure. The pressure can be huge in games at all levels. While the game unfolds, the mental resilience of a quarterback is tested sharply. To hang there when you are worn out and your body hurts. To possess the guts to pass on the ball with expectations. To stand up after every hit. To keep coming back. To refuse Lise. This is how mental resilience is defined. Mental Taugh Quartback produces the balance to play well in pressure situations and that is a determining virtue of Quarterback play.
The best Quarterbacks are not the best passers of Negroily Football. Winning Quarterbacks are those signal bubbles that operate with precile Quarterback Tools, was the entire tank of trust and toughness.
That is the part of the game of Jaxson Dart that really strikes me. The willingness to stand in the bag in the face of pressure and a throw, namely that both the game that requires him, and that pain can result VY well. Take this example of Dart’s Bowl game against Duke:
Note: readers on Apple News Must click on the link above to view the clips.
The Blue Devils put pressure on this, while Dart works this Smash concept in the border between his tight end on the corner route and running below. He knows that the big hit is coming – perhaps several big hits – but he hangs in the bag and makes the pitch, fights in the face of pressure.
Or take this throw against Mississippi State in the egg bowl:
Consider the situation here: Mississippi is on the 3rd and 5 in the red zone, in the fourth quarter, of a one-score game. The bulldogs bring a coverage 0 blitz, and Dart knows that they do not have the figures in protection to block everyone. Subeone comes free.
He hangs in the bag and throws a tume on a seam route and takes another slap in the process.
But he has to celebrate.
Let’s look at another example of this characteristic in action. This piece comes from Dart’s match against South Carolina. One of the most nerve -racking things that you can experience as a Quarterback is a free rusher to stare that has a complete sprint in your chest, when you have to stand in the bag, take the hit and make this.
That is exactly what Dart does on this game:
There are certainly questions about the evaluation of Dart’s Ovell, starting with how well the attack I have carried out on Mississippi, translates into the NFL, and how well that attack prepared him for the aforementioned transition.
But when it comes to one of the most unnatural parts of playing the position, Dart will have it.
That speaks volumes about what he can be at the next level.
Can he consistently go to Plan C?
The biggest question while I am preparing for life in the NFL?
Can he graduate from Lane Kiffin’s attack in Mississippi, for what life will be placed for him at the next level?
One of the most important jobs of every offensive play designer and/or gamer is to make life easier on your quarterback in the passing game. Give them an answer to any coverage they will see in a certain game and simplify how they get that fear. A certain route design can have two different “half-field” concepts, one that is designated to defeat the coverage of humans, and the other design to defeat zone coverage. Diagnosis or the defense is in humans or zone and you will reach your answer.
Oher Play designs can have progress based on what specific reporting the defense is. If the cover is 3, read a series of progressions for, but if the cover is 4, you can read another set.
But what happens if the defense has covered your first pair of reads? Can you plan C? C?
That can be difficult on Saturday.
It can be almost impossible on Sunday.
When Dart got into trouble with Mississippi, it came off when the defense took his first reading or two away and forced him deep in the progressions. Take this game Agaless Mississippi State on a failed two -point conversion Try:
A few things stand out about this piece, which Dart should try to improve as movements to the NFL.
First, Mississippi uses movement before the Snap, so that the external receiver is brought to the right in the stack lines by coming up with them to football. You are two recipients who run every broken -out routes, and the idea is that the movement will create in the secondary.
However, if you look at how the defense responds, defending does not follow the motion man, which is a sign that the bulldogs are in zone Covenge. Dart … maybe wants to get his eyes elsewhere after the Snap.
However, I am open on the right, hoping to fit this on one of the out routes. But with the state of Mississippi in zone cover, neither is open and gets his eyes back to the Graafroute. This was perhaps a better option to start with, but he finally comes up.
Yet he waits too long for a break and never sees the underlying “hole” defense lurking. That defense reads his eyes perfectly and comes into the throwing job for easy interception.
An outlet of this is what I like to formulate as follows: “What works on the installation day may not work on Saturday.”
Or Sunday, in the NFL case.
When viewing Quarterbacks you will see Canne playing where the QB Jus is locked up in a route bacase that it has worked in the past, perhapps during the “installation day” during the practice week, and assume those things will click when that game is. They stare down the route and, well, you know what happens when you make assumptions …
Take this game Agaless Mississippi State:
Kiffin calls a nice design here, with fake smoking screen on the right. Dart pumps on that fake screen, hoping to influence the secondary download to free the vertical route during the afternoon.
Only, the state of Mississippi does not bite.
Yet Dart throws that vertical route, eventually in double coverage. Although the pass became incomplete in this example, this is probably a turnover in the NFL.
Then, well, the PROGALAGAY was just shown during the high package when this choice was made:
This is on a 1st and 10 situation late against Florida. Mississippi Trails 24-17, you have the ball in the Florida area and you have 1:47.
Just about everything would have been better in this Sition than this throw in Triple Covenge. The subsequent loss of Mississippi hit them out of the playoff content.
Dart is as cool as it will be at the QB position, but he will have to clean up Mystakes at the moment – and be able to be better planned at the next level.
