Was it a Reach?: Jaxson Dart

Was it a Reach

Many years ago, I created Why the Slide and Why Undrafted in response to questions about why certain well-known prospects were selected lower or not drafted at all in the NFL Draft. This year, I thought to expand to see if a player was a reach. The answer to whether a player was a reach is as simple as the player was valued at that spot by the team that drafted him. However, other teams may not agree with that grade, so I thought I would check if certain players were actual reaches in the NFL Draft.

For these articles, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out where their teams valued this player. The positive response to “Why Undrafted” and questions from readers about why prospects were drafted lower than the media’s expectations led us to create the parallel series “Why the Slide?” and now, “Was it a Reach?”

Both series are back this year. Feel free to email me requests for Why the Slide? and Why Undrafted? at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.

There were many projections of Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart slipping to the second day of the 2025 NFL Draft. However, there were also a lot of mock drafts that had him going in the first round of the draft. Some were projecting Dart to the Saints with the ninth pick, and there were many projections of Dart going to the Steelers at pick 21.

New Orleans and Pittsburgh did not like Dart enough to take him with their picks, but the New York Giants traded up from the second round to select Dart at pick 25. Thus, it is an interesting question whether team evaluators feel Dart was a reach.

In speaking to sources at a number of teams, they definitely view Dart as a first-round reach. Leading up to the draft, we surveyed sources at 11 teams, and 10 of them said they did not have a first-round grade on Dart. One general manager said they thought he would go in the first round, but that team signed a quarterback in free agency over drafting Dart. Some of the Giants’ own evaluators did not grade Dart as a true first-rounder, but the top of the organization fell in love with Dart enough to move back into the first round to select him.

With New York, Dart is not expected to start right away as veteran Russell Wilson is the projected starter. With veteran Jameis Winston also on the roster, Dart will likely be the third-string quarterback to start the season. However, both Wilson and Winston are journeymen quarterbacks now, and Dart is the future for New York. With head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen on the hot seat, they will probably push Dart into the starting spot during his rookie season unless Wilson or Winston somehow has the Giants in the playoff race. If they are losing, come midway through the year, Dart will probably get his chance to start in hopes that he plays well enough to provide encouraging signs to retain the leadership for 2026. While other teams think Dart was a reach in the first round, he should have a shot to prove them wrong before long.