This season was supposed to be a special one for Dante Moore with the Oregon Ducks.
He passed on the 2026 NFL Draft, where he could’ve been picked as high as No. 2 overall, to return for another season of college football. It shaped up to be a year in national title contention for the Ducks.
Instead, Moore is out for the year, Oregon is out of the College Football Playoff hunt and there are a lot of futures in question.
Moore’s injury hasn’t just raised questions about where he goes from here. It has also brought to light that Dylan Raiola’s future might not be in Eugene, either.
An article by The Athletic’s Antonio Morales and Manny Navarro this week has raised a few interesting points that are worth considering.
Dante Moore Future
Let’s start with what Morales and Navarro wrote:
“Oregon added Dylan Raiola in the offseason with the expectation he’d be the starter in 2027. The five-star prospect, pressed into duty after Dante Moore’s injury, has not looked the part so far. Moore, in theory, could return, but the Ducks will likely jump into the quarterback market again, especially since they’ll have a new offensive coordinator who will certainly want to pick his own signal-caller.”
There’s a lot to unpack there.
The first is that, for the second time this week, Morales has written about Raiola seeming unlikely to be part of Oregon’s plans next season despite it initially seeming that he himself was their plan for next season.
The Moore layers are fascinating, though.
He would be eligible to return to college. No one heading into this year would’ve expected that. But some ineffectiveness and then the head injury likely didn’t help Moore’s NFL Draft stock. It’s possible he’d benefit in the NFL’s eyes by staying in school and having a strong full season before going pro.
But then if Moore wants to do that, The Athletic’s writing duo suggests that Oregon might not want him back. It’s fair to think a new offensive coordinator might want his own guy. Moore was also one of the best QBs in the country last season. He’s supremely talented.
If Moore comes back to college football but not back to Oregon, that’d be quite the development.
Transfer Portal QB Options
If Oregon hits the portal, there’ll be some big names in there.
There’s a chance that Bryce Underwood (Michigan), Julian Lewis (Colorado) and even Arch Manning (Texas) end up in the portal — Manning less likely than the other two, but seemingly a legitimate possibility.
Those would feel a bit more like reclamation projects, while Oregon could also pick whoever the trending smaller-school QB hoping to move up is and make him the new face of the Ducks’ offense.
Moore clearly wouldn’t be a bad option to have back, either, if that’s on the table.
Oregon went into this season thinking it was set at quarterback for 2026 and 2027. Now everything feels unsettled.
Dante Moore’s Oregon Future Questioned After Injury, NFL Draft Decision