Dan Lanning calls Dillon Gabriel, Dante Moore 'great competitors' after both committed to Oregon

On Thursday, following his declaration that he would not leave Oregon for the Alabama head coaching job, Dan Lanning joined the Pat McAfee Show to discuss his future with the Ducks.

The interview touched on several topics, most notably, Lanning’s job status, where he again confirmed his desire to remain with the Ducks going forward. With that big news out of the way, though, one member of the show asked Lanning about the year to come in 2024, especially when it comes to his quarterback room.

Oregon just lost its starter for the last two seasons, also Lanning’s first two, Bo Nix, who even finished as a Heisman finalist this past year. So, heading into the offseason, finding a new QB1 was a priority. Arguably, Lanning found two of them.

The first QB to commit to the Ducks is former Oklahoma and UCF passer Dillon Gabriel, in the mold of Nix as a very-well-established sixth-year senior at the power conference level. The other is Dante Moore, a former five-star who played off and on as a true freshman for a wacky UCLA team this past fall and then decided to transfer.

On the McAfee Show, Lanning answered why Oregon wanted both guys and, more importantly, why both guys were willing to come to Oregon despite the presence of the other.

“You know, competition is the secret, and those are guys who want to come compete, want to be, you know, the best version of themselves. And they know they can do it here. They see what I see in this place and we want to go get great players.”

Dan Lanning sees a pair of great competitors in Gabriel and Moore, who will undoubtedly push each other harder than if only one had committed.

“One thing we tell our players when they come, like, the minute you get here, we’re going to try make you better and continue to be better, and that’s how you get the best out of them. So, we want competitors. You know, those guys are both great competitors, great quarterbacks, and we’re going to have a bunch of them on this team to make it great.”

Expect some incredibly high-level competition within Oregon’s quarterback room this spring, summer and fall. Moore almost certainly backs up Garbiel for next season, but until the two start throwing passes in those gaudy green uniforms, nothing is for sure.