OXFORD ― Eighty-nine years after the award’s inception, Ole Miss football is still waiting on its first Heisman Trophy winner.
It has been 21 years since the Rebels’ last finalist — Matt Corral narrowly missed the cut in 2021 — and the Earth has completed 64 trips around the sun since their last Heisman finalist not named Manning.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart, the bookmakers say, has a shot at resetting those clocks. As of Monday afternoon, FanDuel considered him the fifth-most likely player to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy, tied with two other players behind Quinn Ewers, Carson Beck, Dillon Gabriel and Will Howard.
According to FanDuel, Dart has an implied probability of 6.25% of taking home the award as spring practice approaches.
It’s a logical preseason position for Dart, who will lead the Ole Miss offense for a third season. The Rebels are likely to be in the top 10 when the preseason rankings come out in August, and quarterbacks have claimed the Heisman in 10 of the past 12 seasons.
And he has never been shy about his goals. Even in the midst of a competition against Spencer Sanders last offseason, he made them clear.
“My focus this year is to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” Dart said then.
Most outsiders expect that from Dart in 2024. So what bar does he have to clear to earn serious Heisman consideration?
Handicapping Jaxson Dart’s Heisman Trophy odds for Ole Miss football
Each of the 10 most recent quarterbacks to win the Heisman had one thing in common: They all led their team to at least nine wins in the regular season.
It would take something truly spectacular for Dart to take home the trophy if the Rebels fall short of that number. Barring a total collapse by a defense most expect to improve in 2024, if Dart plays well enough to be in consideration, the winning should take care of itself.
From…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ole-miss-footballs-jaxson-dart-110739342.html
Author : The Clarion Ledger
Publish date : 2024-03-05 11:07:39
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