Oregon Ducks QB Dante Moore set to return to college for 2026 season

The NFL Draft can wait for Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore. After considering his options, Moore is set to return to college for the 2026 season.

There had been some debate regarding the future for Moore. Coming off his junior season and his first season as the starter for Oregon, he seemed like a potentially high NFL Draft pick. However, after struggling in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Indiana, there seemed like issues that he could work out over time. Certainly, ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper believed he could return to school for another season.

“Dante is 20 years old,” Kiper recently said on Get Up. “Only 20 starts. That’s not enough. He said it after the game. ‘There’s some things I need to work on. I need more reps.’ Dante said it. You get those reps back at Oregon, not in the National Football League. You’ve got to get an A+ in college to go into the NFL. That last game, certainly the overall year was good not great. Dante Moore next year could be phenomenal.”

Dante Moore played his high school football at Martin Luther King Jr. in Detroit, Michigan. There, he was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2023. He was the third-ranked player nationally and the second-ranked quarterback overall in that recruiting cycle. Initially, he would choose to go to UCLA, over numerous other offers.

As a freshman at UCLA, Moore played in nine games, getting good experience. However, he was inconsistent during that time and the Bruins struggled overall. After the season, he’d transfer to Oregon.

In 2024 with Oregon, Moore took a step back and largely acted as the team’s backup behind Dillon Gabriel. That saw him play in five games, only three of which were in the regular season, allowing him to utilize his redshirt for the year before coming back in 2025, his academic junior season, and became the full-time starter at Oregon.

In 2025, Moore led the Ducks to a 13-2 record. That was good enough to make it to the College Football Playoff, where the Ducks did win two games before suffering a blowout loss to Indiana.

Individually, Moore finished the 2025 season completing 71.8 percent of his passes for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns, compared to 10 interceptions. Meanwhile, he had 156 rushing yards and another two rushing touchdowns.

Oregon has been active in the Transfer Portal to this point. That includes adding Dylan Raiola in the Transfer Portal, another former five-star quarterback with starting experience. How head coach Dan Lanning handles his quarterback room in 2026, however, remains to be seen.