Ole Miss Football Facing Crucial Concern After Losing Jaxson Dart

Ole Miss Football Facing Crucial Concern After Losing Jaxson Dart originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Ole Miss football program has been wildly successful in recent seasons, winning 10 or more games in three of the last four years. This included a school record 11 victories in 2023, but the program has still come up short of the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately, many feel that they missed their window to make noise in the postseason, as First-Team All-SEC quarterback Jaxson Dart left for the NFL this offseason. Now, head coach Lane Kiffin and his staff will have to hope that his replacement can fit the bill.

Last year's backup, now-sophomore Austin Simmons, is expected to be the starter under center this year for the Rebels.

ESPN's Harry Lyles Jr., however, believes that the quarterback position is a major concern for Ole Miss ahead of the 2025 season. He went into detail about why the Rebels should be concerned about Simmons.

"Austin Simmons seems like a talented individual -- we're talking about someone who is athletically gifted enough to play baseball for Ole Miss as well. But anytime you are replacing one of the better quarterbacks in your conference, in this case Jaxson Dart, who was a first-round NFL draft pick, there has to be some level of concern," Lyles Jr. wrote. "But from what we've seen out of Simmons, there's promise. His drive against Georgia last season, where he led a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to tie the game while Dart was injured, should give the Ole Miss faithful something to be excited about."

Simmons did look calm and collected against Georgia last fall in his lone spurt of legitimate playing time, which may be the ultimate test for an SEC quarterback. However, the Bulldogs did not likely prepare for Simmons, and he has to be able to do it consistently.

Backups like Trinidad Chambliss, Maealiuaki Smith and AJ Maddox are all solid quarterbacks as well, but none of them will be battling for the starting job. Instead, they will wait in the wings if things go sideways with Simmons.

Kiffin has been able to adjust his offense to the quarterbacks he has had during his five-year Ole Miss tenure, and things should be no different with Simmons this season. The young signal-caller, however, still needs to prove to Rebels fans that he is the real deal.

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.