The success had by QBs CJ Stroud, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix, along with the potential shown by QBs Bryce Young, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Michael Penix, has fans, media and teams foaming at the mouth hoping for another round of great quarterbacks coming out of college.

Sadly, for everyone involved including the Cleveland Browns, the 2025 NFL draft does not seem as loaded as the last two classes. While QB Cam Ward is expected to be drafted first overall, only QB Shedeur Sanders is expected to be drafted in the first round and neither are likely ranked in the top five of most big boards.

QB Jalen Milroe could be the third quarterback off the board but a team will be betting on prodigious athletic gifts, a high football IQ and his great work ethic to overcome his struggles as a passer.

With no one really grabbing the reigns as the third quarterback off the board, the hype around QB Jaxson Dart may have crescendoed with this post by ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky:

First round? Jaxson Dart?

To be clear, most sources I have spoken to in and around the league have given a similar response to that idea: “HA!” (Or at least that is the appropriate, distilled version.)

Cory Kinnan was also confused by all the hype around Dart coming out of the Senior Bowl and reached out to a number of teams to see what he was missing. (As a draft analyst, Kinnan has a Day 3 grade on the Ole Miss QB.) What did Kinnan learn?

He wasn’t missing anything but those hyping up Dart, including Orlovsky, might be:

One AFC scout told me that his grade is, “nowhere near the first two rounds for us.” Another AFC scout in response to the Dart hype gave a NSFW answer to his opinion on the Ole Miss quarterback. An NFC scout expressed an early Day 3 grade on him, while another NFC scout indicated their building had an even lower grade than that on Dart.

Kinnan’s piece breaks down what he saw on practice film and in the game leading to the same concerns we saw in college. Noted later in the piece is that Dart is a well-liked and a hard worker so, like Milroe, has a shot to develop.

It will be interesting if, like Will Levis and Matt Carrol before him, Dart gets a push-up draft boards despite a lot of concerning traits on tape. Levis and Carrol were selected on Day 2 but, at least so far, have not been able to secure spots as starters in the NFL.

With the NFL combine kicking off at the end of the month, it will be interesting what we see from Dart and if the rumblings continue the hype or if it levels off as Kinnan’s sources expect.