For the third time in five years, a Utah native quarterback will be taken in the NFL draft.
This time, it will be Jaxson Dart, the former Corner Canyon High and Roy High star who excelled in three years at Ole Miss after one year at USC.
That streak began when fellow Charger Zach Wilson was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, going to the New York Jets, while two years later, Maple Mountain High’s Jaren Hall was a fifth-round selection by the Minnesota Vikings.
Both Wilson and Hall played their college ball at BYU.
Dart, meanwhile, is one of the top-rated quarterback prospects in the 2025 class and could be taken during the draft’s first round Thursday night (6 p.m. MDT, ABC/ESPN/NFL Network).
While Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders are widely viewed as the top two quarterbacks available in this year’s draft, Dart is a part of the next group of signal callers who could hear their name called.
Will he end up being a Day 1 selection, or will Dart end up going on Day 2?
Will Jaxson Dart be in attendance at the 2025 NFL draft?
Dart was originally announced as one of 17 players who would attend the draft’s first day in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but later that news changed and he will not be in attendance.
He explained to Kay Adams of the “Up & Adams Show” why he will be staying in Utah to watch the draft.
“I’m going to do it back home in Utah,” Dart told Adams earlier this week. “I tried to negotiate a few more tickets to the draft and to the green room, but you’re kind of limited.
“For me, I have a big family, I have a lot of people who have supported me along this journey. Green Bay is not the easiest place to get to, so I wanted to have all my people there, everyone that’s been in my corner. Have some teammates and all my coaches growing up are gonna be there. It’s going to be really cool to have that whole crowd of people together, all my loved ones.”
What is the range where Jaxson Dart might get drafted?
Some of the teams that have been linked to Dart in mock drafts include the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams.
Last week, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said he believes the action surrounding Dart could start to heat up around the 20th overall selection, right before the Steelers’ pick at No. 21.
“Jaxson Dart I think to me it probably starts at 20. I guess there’s some thought out there maybe the Saints could take him at nine. That would surprise me. I would think more maybe it’s a trade-up in front of Pittsburgh,” Jeremiah said during a conference call discussing the draft.
“That would be where the ride could start. Then I think the ride would end in the early part of the second round once the Browns and the Giants have made their next picks. That’s the range for Jaxson Dart.”
In his final NFL mock draft released Wednesday, Jeremiah has Dart going to the Giants at No. 18 in the first round, in a trade up with the Seattle Seahawks.
“The Giants and Browns are both candidates to trade back into the first round, with the goal of moving ahead of the QB-needy Steelers. I’ve heard talk about the Seahawks looking to trade out of Round 1, so this pairing makes sense,” Jeremiah wrote.
“New York would get its QB and Seattle GM John Schneider would be armed with a boatload of Day 2 picks after this trade. There’s a belief in league circles that the Giants view Dart as a better fit than Shedeur Sanders.”
Could Jaxson Dart be a top-10 selection?
One quarterback situation to monitor during the draft is in New Orleans, where the Saints currently don’t have clarity on how long a right shoulder injury could impact Derek Carr.
Will the Saints use that No. 9 overall pick to take a quarterback of the future?
On Thursday morning, CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala reported that Dart may not fall out of the top 10.
“What I’m being told is that Jaxson Dart is not going to fall beyond that No. 9 pick and the Saints. Somebody could potentially go above the Saints to try to go get him, but that’s not what I’m hearing right now,” Kinkhabwala said during a CBS Sports segment.
“That’s a pick that (Saints head coach) Kellen Moore really likes.”
How does Jaxson Dart stack up among the 2025 quarterback prospects?
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero put together an extensive evaluation of this year’s QB class, and that included anonymous quotes from NFL executives among the prospects.
While some executives said Dart needs to mature and be more consistent as a passer in Pelissero’s report, he was also praised for his arm strength, overall talent and intangibles.
An NFC coordinator also noted things he saw from Dart that he believes that Dart is better at than Ward and Sanders.
“Jaxson is a better runner than both Cam and Sanders. He has real athletic ability, where those guys don’t at this level. And I think Jaxson plays on time more and has probably a little bit more arm ability. He’s more consistent from the pocket,” the coordinator said, per Pelissero.
