Dante Moore is heading into 2026 with the kind of national buzz quarterbacks dream about.
Ari Wasserman of On3 slotted the Oregon star at No. 1 in his top 10 quarterbacks entering the 2026 college football season, putting Moore ahead of Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, who checks in at No. 2. The two are scheduled to meet on Nov. 7 in Columbus.
Wasserman made his case plainly: “Had Dante Moore entered the NFL Draft in April, there was a high likelihood he would have been selected in the top five. If that isn’t a license to check in at No. 1 on this list, what is?”
That kind of praise tracks with how Moore’s 2025 season played out. He started all 15 games for Oregon, guided the Ducks to an 11-1 regular season and a College Football Playoff berth, then helped them win their first two playoff games before the run ended in the semifinal against eventual national champion Indiana.
The numbers backed up the hype. Moore finished the year with 3,565 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. That production also landed him on the cover of EA Sports College Football 27.
Moore’s path to this point has been anything but linear. He started his college career at UCLA, where he arrived as part of the Bruins’ 2023 high school recruiting class and came in as a five-star prospect. His freshman season included 1,610 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions in nine games, and after that year he entered the transfer portal and moved to Oregon.
Even with NFL Draft projections pointing his way after the 2025 season, Moore chose to come back to Eugene. He explained that decision to Darien Rencher of “The Journey” after the season.
“After that last game playing down there in the Peach Bowl, seeing the tears on my teammates’ faces, it kind of felt like that couldn’t be my last journey with them,” Moore said to Darien Rencher of “The Journey” after the season.
He also said, “At the end of the day, I don’t play football for MONEY.”
Oregon is still chasing its first national championship, and the Ducks enter 2026 with real title expectations again. They have reached the national title game twice and made the College Football Playoff two other times, and DraftKings Sportsbook lists them tied for the fourth-best odds to win it all at +800.
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