Jaxson Dart kicked off his recruiting campaign with a social media post at 11:15 a.m. on New Year's Day, stating in video form that he was returning for a final season at Ole Miss.
From there other returners and key transfers pledged to the Rebels, setting up this hyped season that begins in 19 days against Furman. Dart helped bring in and retain a roster that looks like the top of the SEC, earning praise from Lane Kiffin for the work and the focus.
“I think that a number of guys would say, especially offensively," Kiffin said about Dart's recruiting of the roster. "I think the receivers would tell you that, like Juice Wells. Not just portal guys, but even the guys that came back like Tre (Harris), like (tight end Caden) Prieskorn. They would tell you that he recruited them really well too.
“I don’t know that I’ve seen over time a player actively recruit more to put together a team on both sides of the ball than Jaxson did this offseason. It says a lot about him, says a lot about being a leader, even potentially as a head coach one day if he wants to be. He has really special qualities, and one of them is to get people to follow him."
But there needed to substance beyond the words for players to follow Dart, and he also supplied that in abundance following the Rebels' 11-win season and Peach Bowl berth. Dart threw for 3,364 yards and 23 touchdowns against only five interceptions.
The former USC quarterback added eight touchdowns on the ground.
Entering a third year as a starter is a considerable advantage, as he's had Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis for the duration of his time in Oxford. His improvement last season was evident in the interception total, but it was also easy to see in getting the ball down the field.
In 2022, during his first year in the system, Dart completed only 51 percent of his intermediate length (10-19 air yards) passes for six touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Eight throws in that distance were turnover-worthy, according to PFF College, and the 73.5 NFL passer rating was the worst of any of his throwing distances that season. Twenty-six percent of Dart's throws were 10-19 yards in the air.
Last season, 28.8 percent of his throws were that distance, and he completed them at a 66.6 percent clip for 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions. One of the 104 attempts were turnover-worthy. His NFL passer rating on middle throws was 139.9.
Dart's accuracy on deep throws (at least 20 yards in the air) creeped up last year, moving from 36 percent to 41 percent despite one more drop on eight fewer attempts. Ole Miss averages a deep throw on 17 percent of its dropbacks during Dart's tenure.
The intermediate middle of the field was the biggest contributor to Dart's down-field improvement.
The throws 10-19 yards down the field and between the hashes last season completed at 71 percent with eight touchdowns and two picks. Comparatively, in 2022, it was 48 percent with three touchdowns and five interceptions.
Preseason All-SEC wide receiver Tre Harris is a key to Dart's dominance at this distance. Dart threw to Harris on 28 percent of his intermediate middle attempts, and Harris posted a 98 PFF College rating out of 100, He had 11 catches for 229 yards and four touchdowns at that distance.
""Tre's a monster," Dart said. "I'm a little biased, but I think he's the best receiver in the country. Just the plays that he makes and his mindset each and every day of being able to attack it, there's nobody else like him.
"He makes my job a lot easier, just being able to get the ball in his hands and him being able to go make plays. He's going to be a monster this season."
