Oregon’s quarterback room looked like one of the sport’s biggest luxuries when the season began. Four games later, ESPN’s view of it has changed in a hurry.
The Ducks opened 2026 with Dante Moore and Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola giving them the No. 6 spot in ESPN’s spring ranking of the best quarterback situations among Power 4 teams. Now, after a 3-1 start and a 1-0 mark in Big Ten play, Oregon has fallen all the way to No. 21.
On paper, that slide feels hard to square. Moore and Raiola have combined for 1,339 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and no interceptions. If those numbers belonged to one quarterback, the yardage would rank No. 4 nationally and the touchdown total would tie for first in the FBS.
That’s part of what makes the drop so surprising. Their 14 touchdown passes match the output of quarterbacks Darian Mensah of Miami, Kamario Taylor of Mississippi State and Jayden Maiava of USC, all of whom sit ahead of Oregon in ESPN’s updated rankings.
Still, the deeper metrics help explain why Moore’s stock has slipped. He is No. 28 among Power 4 quarterbacks in Total QBR and No. 52 in passing success rate. His showing in Oregon’s 39-31 loss to then-unranked Oklahoma State was a clear low point, with Moore going 14 of 29 for 191 yards.
Even with the ranking drop, Oregon is still sitting in a crowded neighborhood. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita is just behind the Ducks at No. 23 after completing 75.6 percent of his passes for 1,131 yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover is three spots ahead at No. 18 with a 70 percent completion rate, 851 yards, 11 touchdowns and no picks. LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt is right behind Hoover at No. 19 despite having five touchdown passes and six interceptions, a reminder that these rankings are built on more than the usual box score.
No quarterback took a steeper fall than Texas star Arch Manning. He started the year at No. 4, ahead of Moore, but now sits at No. 29 with a 67.6 Total QBR, a No. 62 sack rate and a No. 55 ranking in yards per dropback.
Oregon’s No. 21 spot also comes in front of Nebraska quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who checks in at No. 22 after taking over for the Cornhuskers following Raiola’s transfer to Oregon.
And Raiola’s short stint in Eugene has given the Ducks a strong case that the room may be better than the ranking suggests. In relief of the injured Moore, he has gone 30 of 36 passing for 413 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in essentially four quarters of work.
That includes a highlight drive against then-No. 12 USC, when he guided Oregon on a nine-play, 75-yard march to break a 27-27 tie in the fourth quarter.
Moore remains the starter when healthy, but his return date is still unclear as he recovers from a concussion. For now, Raiola appears to have Oregon in capable hands.
The ranking system does not appear to hinge on one fixed threshold. Moore’s 69.7 completion percentage, nine touchdowns and no interceptions are strong, but he still needs more week-to-week consistency and better marks in Total QBR and passing success rate. Raiola, meanwhile, has to keep building on an Oregon debut that has been almost absurdly clean, with an 83.3 percent completion rate, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Across his career, Raiola has now thrown for 5,232 yards and 36 touchdowns between Oregon and Nebraska. He is 918 yards and 14 touchdowns short of Moore’s career totals of 6,150 yards and 50 scores.
If the quarterbacks ranked ahead of Oregon are any indication, the Ducks still have time to climb. A strong October and the stretch beyond it could change the picture quickly.
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