Dante Moore entered the 2025 season with only limited starting experience, which led to plenty of doubt about his ability to guide Oregon into the playoffs. However, he has since silenced those concerns, delivering when it mattered most by leading the Ducks to a 23-0 shutout of Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl to keep the Ducks’ season going.
Oregon now moves on to the College Football Playoff semifinals, as the Ducks set up a rematch with the Indiana Hoosiers in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Dante Moore Fuels Shedeur Sanders Comparisons As His Oregon Future Takes Shape
After a difficult true freshman season at UCLA in 2023, Moore entered the transfer portal and ultimately landed at Oregon. He spent last season backing up Dillon Gabriel before taking over as the starter this season, leading the Ducks to a 13-1 record.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah appeared on “The Ryen Russillo Show” on Saturday and broke down Moore’s game, where he drew similarities between Moore and former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
“With Moore, I thought, you know, we saw it with Shedeur a little bit,” Jeremiah said (44:39). “Obviously, with an extreme case of someone who drifts, you’ll see more drift around, float around in the pocket a little bit. I’d like to see him just be a little bit more precise, get your cleats in the ground. I think that’ll help him drive the ball more and be a little bit more consistent in that regard. There’s not a lot of weight transfer. So, just some mechanical stuff that he has there.
“And then, he likes to throw the ball underneath, get the ball out, and he’s good at all that stuff. He throws under the sticks a lot, which to me, if you’re real confident in what you see and what you get picture-wise at the college level, you’re not going to do that quite as much. You can attack a little bit more. I didn’t see that quite as much from him. I think there’s a gap there.”
Moore has grown into a vocal leader of one of the nation’s top offenses. He completed 26 of 33 passes to 11 different receivers for 234 yards and one interception in the Texas Tech game. His calmness against strong defenses, along with his ability to avoid holding the ball too long or forcing risky throws, has helped set him apart.
Entering the playoffs, Moore was projected as the No. 2 quarterback in most 2026 NFL mock drafts. However, that outlook shifted after ESPN’s Pete Thamel discussed Moore’s future on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“Everyone just slots him in the mock drafts at one or two and just assumes that that’s going to happen,” Thamel said. “I’m not telling you it’s not, but there is a feeling at Oregon that he could stay. He even said that to one of the TV crews going into the JMU game. He’s younger, he’s seen adversity, he’s a little bit of a slight guy, and he could probably put on some weight. I’m not telling you he’s definitely coming back, but I do think that’s on the table.
Moore has thrown for 3,280 yards, 28 touchdowns, and nine interceptions this season. He has earned an 85.9 rating in the PFSN College Football QB Impact metric.
