Oregon quarterback Dante Moore’s three turnovers cost the No. 5 Ducks dearly in the Peach Bowl as they were blown out 56-22 by the Indiana Hoosiers. Moore went 24-of-39 for 285 yards, resulting in two touchdowns and one interception inside a raucous Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday evening.
Hanging over Moore after the Peach Bowl was a decision on whether to return to college football for an extra season or to declare for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Analyst Gives Verdict on Dante Moore’s Future
After a woeful NFL season, the New York Jets are set to pick second during the draft later this year and several mock drafts have the franchise selecting Moore, despite the uncertainty about the quarterback’s future.
During Saturday’s segment of the “McShay Show,” analyst Todd McShay declared that Moore was not ready to play in the NFL, while giving a detailed breakdown of the number of college football starts that the successful quarterbacks in the league had before declaring.
“Bo Nix 60+ starts. 50+starts are: Cam Ward, Jayden Daniels. 40+: Baker, Purdy, Penix, Herbert, Hurts, Dart,” McShay said. “30+: Cousins, Geno, Goff, Daniel Jones, Trevor, Stafford, Lamar, Dak, Caleb, Love. I’m looking at Dante Moore in his 20th start, and the running back on the RPO shouldn’t have hit his elbow to throw.
“But the strip sack and several other plays. I’m watching the QB. Yes, your receivers are covered up, but we got to speed up that clock, man. I don’t think Dante Moore’s ready. He can come back next year, play 12, 13, 15 more games. And now he’s in the range we’re talking about with Stafford, Lamar, Dak, Caleb, Love. I feel a lot more comfortable then.”
Moore managed five starts for the UCLA Bruins in 2023, before joining Oregon last season and serving as Dillon Gabriel’s backup. Despite playing in every game this season, Moore has 20 starts in his college football career and will still be 20 years old during the 2026 NFL Draft.
Moore Unsure of Draft Decision After Peach Bowl Loss
During his postgame news conference after the Peach Bowl loss, Moore revealed that he was still unsure of his decision about his future in college football.
“I’m going to soak this moment up and, most importantly, give my hugs and thank yous to my teammates,” Moore said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t know my decision yet. I’m going to talk to coach Lanning and talk to my family and everybody, but at the end of the day, I don’t want to think about that right now.”
Moore tallied 3,565 passing yards, resulting in 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, while adding 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks this season. According to PFSN’s College QB Impact metric, the Oregon star finished the season with a score of 85.9, good for No. 22 in the country.
Despite the Hoosiers beating the Ducks twice this season, in PFSN’s Draft Big Board, Moore is the class of 2026’s QB1 over Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.