SALT LAKE CITY — Perhaps the most intriguing potential NFL draft pick from the Wasatch Front is the quarterback that got away from each of the state’s three Football Bowl Subdivision institutions.
That would be Jaxson Dart, the former Roy and Corner Canyon quarterback whose college career was as wide-traveled.
The 21-year-old Ole Miss quarterback by way of USC who patterns his game after Anakin Skywalker — or, at least, his heavy eye-black — has been trending as a first-round pick in the final days and weeks leading up to the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks a match between Dart and the New York Giants is one made in heaven. Aiding the match is that New York recently acquired aging veteran Russell Wilson and journeyman Jameis Winston, and has four picks in the top 100, including the No. 3 overall selection.
If Dart chances to fall to the Giants at No. 34, 65 or 99, expect New York to snatch him up. The problem, of course, is he might not be available for that long.
But the remaining three picks would likely be more than enough for the Giants to package together and jump ahead of No. 20 in Pittsburgh, which also could be in the quarterback market for a player like Dart, the draft analyst noted.
“Jaxson Dart, to me, just from a fit, a little more physical, a little bit more arm — he doesn’t have a huge arm, but a little bit more arm playing in that situation, in that division and the weather you might encounter; I thought that one would not necessarily require a huge cost to move up,” Jeremiah said on a recent conference call with reporters.
“You could conceivably come out of your free three picks with (Penn State defensive end) Abdul Carter, you know, arguably the best player in the draft, everybody would say one of the two best players in the draft; a quarterback of the future in Jaxson Dart, who you don’t necessarily have to start right away; and then whoever you would find there in the third round,” he added. “That to me is a really nice haul for the Giants.”
Jeremiah rated Dart as the No. 36 overall prospect in his final pre-draft rankings published Wednesday afternoon, and the third-highest rated quarterback.
Dart, the 6-foot-2 dual-threat signal caller who threw for 4,279 yards and 29 touchdowns with six interceptions as a senior with the Rebels, has also been linked with the Los Angeles Rams, who own the No. 26 pick, and the Cleveland Browns likely with the first pick of the second round.
The Kaysville native was initially among the 13 players assigned to attend the draft’s first-day green room in Green Bay, but he withdrew two days prior, according to NBC Sports.
“You’re human, so you see stuff. But quite honestly, I’m just trying to enjoy this process for me,” Dart told Yahoo Sports recently.
“I’m also just trying to stay active, whether it’s playing pickleball or being with the fam. But I’m really just trying to enjoy this process as much as I can.”
Dart was listed at plus-200 odds to land with the Giants by BetMGM, which gives the same team plus-350 odds to draft Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the post-Daniel Jones era.
Both of them are considered top-three quarterbacks in this year’s draft, with Miami’s Cam Ward largely expected to go No. 1 overall to the Tennessee Titans.
Beyond Dart, Jeremiah ranks the next-highest Utah-made prospect as Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals, who the analysts lists at No. 93 overall on his big board.
Dane Brugler from the Athletic rates Royals as the seventh-best wide receiver in the draft and a possible second- or third-round pick for the two-year starter who caught 55 passes for 834 yards and six touchdowns for the Aggies last year.
Jeremiah ranks former Kearns High star Jeffrey Bassa, the Oregon linebacker who racked up 23 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles last year with the Ducks, as the 105th-best prospect in the draft.
Brugler puts a third- or fourth-round grade defensive standout as the fourth-best linebacker in the draft behind Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell, UCLA’s Carson Schwesinger and Oklahoma’s Danny Stusman.
Former BYU defensive end Tyler Batty is a projected seventh-round pick by Brugler, who rates the Payson High product as the No. 34 edge rusher on his prospect list.
Other local prospects — from BYU quarterback Gerry Bohanon to Utah wide receiver Dorian Singer to Utah State lineman Cole Motes — are projected as free-agent prospects. That includes BYU’s Caleb Etienne, a recent riser in predraft conversations who ranks No. 23 by Brugler among offensive tackles.