Remember When This First Round QB Was Tearing It up in Utah
Last night’s 2025 NFL first round draft had a couple of surprises in store as most drafts do.
One of course, was Jacksonville moving up to draft Heisman Winner, Travis Hunter, by swapping picks with the Browns.
Another was the New York Giants trading back into the first round by striking a deal with Houston for the 25th overall selection.
The Giants, despite having signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston this off season, have been linked to a quarterback throughout the draft process, understanding those are temporary solutions to an everlasting problem.
Many anticipated a quarterback selection and in doing so thought Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders would fit in such a scenario.
Only half of that would prove to be accurate as the Giants did take a quarterback, but it would be Ole Miss signal caller, Jaxson Dart.
Dart, the 6-2, 225 pound gunslinger was coming off a three year tenure at the University of Mississippi that saw him throw for over 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns his senior season as the Rebels finished just outside the playoff bubble.
It was exciting for football fans to see another quarterback outside of #1 overall pick, Cam Ward, go In the first round, and it was exciting for fans here in Utah to see Dart celebrate with his family in his Kaysville, Utah home.
Dart is a local talent through and through, at least at the high school level.
Jaxson spent his first three years of High School quarterbacking the Roy Royals before spending his senior season at Corner Canyon High School in Draper.
That year with the Chargers saw Dart throw an astonishing 67 touchdowns (a state record) to only 4 interceptions behind 4,682 yards.
In terms of total touchdowns, Dart had a whopping 79 when counting his work on the ground.
Throughout that 2020-2021 senior season, Dart only had a single game that resulted in less than 4 touchdowns thrown.
That game was a 14 completions to 15 attempts, 230 passing yards, 3 touchdown showing in a 49-20 opening night win over Farmington.
His best game statistically?
When he completed another 14/15 passes for 414 yards and…. 7 passing touchdowns in a 56-17 win over Westlake.
These blowout scores were common place for Corner Canyon that year as the Chargers went undefeated (14-0) all the way to claiming the Utah 6A title with an average margin of victory standing at 31.6 points.
Dart’s excellence resulted in offers from BYU and Utah State among others, but the 2020 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year would commit to USC where he would spend a year before transferring to Ole Miss the following season.
Dart would go 29-10 at Ole Miss while capturing a Gator Bowl and Peach Bowl.
According to NCAA.com, Jaxson made setting records a regular thing at Ole Miss, a place that had produced both Archie and Eli Manning.
Some of those records where Dart now sits at #1 are:
Most wins by a starting quarterback
Best winning percentage by a starting QB
Career total offense leader
Career passing yards leader
Career Passing Efficiency
Career 300-yard passing games.
Most career rushing yards by a quarterback.
Most 400-yard passing games.
Despite being 4 years removed from representing a Utah based team, most Utahns still recognize the name, recognize the talent and wish nothing but the best for the local kid.
Now with the NFL calling and Dart likely to be on the big stage within, let’s say two years time, many from right here in Utah will be rooting for Dart to find success in the big apple.
Here’s to more Utah in the 2025 NFL draft!
The 2nd and 3rd round of the NFL draft starts today and should very well feature Utah State’s Jalen Royals at the least.
Start time is scheduled for 5:00 mountain.
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