Joel Klatt labels Dante Moore, Carson Steele as two of college football's most important shoe-fillers

Dante Moore and Carson Steele will be two of the most important shoe fillers in college football as UCLA transitions to 2023, according to Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt.

Moore is a much hyped freshman quarterback that could start right away or at least at some point this season. Steele transferred in from Ball State after two very productive seasons.

But there are big shoes to fill, as Klatt said.

“Carson Steele and Dante Moore at UCLA, if you look at what UCLA was a year ago, this was a team led by their running backs Zach Charbonnet and led by their quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and these two guys are basically brought in to replace those two guys now,” Klatt said on his podcast.

“Do we know that it’s going to be Dante Moore, the freshman quarterback? No, we don’t know that … I think it’s going to be eventually. And then Carson Steele transfers in and here’s a guy that he’s going to have to replace Charbonnet, who was one of the better running backs in the entire country.”

Klatt wasn’t the only one high on Moore. ESPN’s Greg McElroy called Moore a breakout candidate for the Bruins. 

But the combo of Moore and Steele should bode well for UCLA, if it breaks right. It’s a lot to replace.

“And if you look at what UCLA was, they were a physical running team,” Klatt said. “The duo Charbonnet and Dorian Thompson-Robinson had over 2000 rushing yards a year ago on a team that really needs to run the ball. Well, they had 5,000 total yards, DTR has been a five year starter, right?

“As Chip Kelly has built this and they finally got over that hump last year of being really competitive at the top end. A lot of that was because of the veteran running back and the veteran quarterback and so now here we go.”

Moore comes into college for the first time while Steele comes to UCLA with 481 carries, 2,447 yards, 20 touchdowns, 5.1 yards per carry, 41 catches, 323 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions.

“We got a (freshman and a transfer in Moore and Steele),” Klatt said. “Now it should be noted that Kelly’s. what was that his first year? I think it was his first year DTR was the quarterback but only after the first couple of games in fact, he made his first start in game two of his freshman season …

“I don’t know if it’s going to be right away but I do believe Dante Moore eventually will become the starting quarterback for UCLA. That’s why those guys are my shoe fillers there.”