Did Oregon and Georgia find the blueprint for title contenders, stacking their QB rooms in the transfer portal era?
Georgia and Oregon are two of the top national title contenders in 2024.
They have the best rosters. Two of the sport’s top coaches, and complete institutional buy-in. Their immense resources give them natural advantages other teams don’t have, and yet, both programs are also successful because they’re ahead of the curve on how to manage a roster.
Case in point: Taking a flyer on a blue-chip transfer quarterback who may have lost a little of his shine.
In December, Oregon quickly found Bo Nix’s replacement in Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel. The veteran starter led the Big 12 in passing and touchdowns in 2023 and has 50 games of experience under his belt.
Dan Lanning got his guy, and the thought for most was, that’s that for the Ducks.
Only a week later, Oregon landed former 5-star Dante Moore out of the portal too. The ex-UCLA quarterback nearly ended up in Eugene out of high school, but Moore flipped to the Bruins late in the process and played his freshman season in Westwood.
His lone year in California was mostly a bumpy rollercoaster ride, as Moore started five games but was benched multiple times. He finished the season with 1,160 yards and 11 touchdowns to nine picks.
Eyeing a fresh start, he entered the portal.
But then Dante Moore did something unusual — especially for a former top-flight quarterback prospect who got a taste of playing time as a true freshman.
He didn’t go chase immediate playing time at Michigan or Michigan State. Moore willingly chose to go to a program with an established QB1, eying a developmental season and the chance to be the backup for a winner. Then in 2025, he’ll compete for the starting job with hopes that he can be the guy to lead the Ducks on the national stage and fulfill his dream of being an NFL quarterback.
One step backward to take two steps forward.
Moore’s decision — and Oregon’s aggressive pursuit to add another arm to an already solid QB room — was originally seen as an outlier deal.
But now it’s happened again. For another title contender.
On Thursday, Georgia landed former Top 100 prospect Jaden Rashada, as the ex-Arizona State gunslinger opted to take a similar path to Moore.
Rashada, whose career has been well-traveled at this point with multiple commitments and a messy NIL deal gone south, won the starting job out of fall camp at ASU in 2023, opening the 2023 season with a pair of decent starts (403 yards with three touchdowns and one pick). But then he missed nine straight games with an injury and struggled badly in the season-finale against Arizona. He sat out most of spring practice recovering from thumb surgery before opting to enter the portal.
Much like Moore, Rashada could have landed at a program promising immediate playing time. His prior recruitment suggests most thought he’d do just that.
Instead, Rashada quickly circled Georgia as a place he could go sit, learn and compete.
He, like Moore, valued development and stability. They’ve both been in the spotlight, and they’ve both been humbled. Now they just want to improve and showcase their true skills in an environment that gives them the best chance to succeed.
The Bulldogs have one of the best quarterbacks in the country with Carson Beck as their entrenched starter in 2024, but they were looking to add another high-end arm to the room to battle with Gunner Stockton and Ryan Puglisi in 2025. Georgia thought UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava, the 2023 Mountain West Freshman of the Year, would be that guy, but his commitment didn’t last a day before he flipped to USC in January.
Now Kirby Smart might have landed an even more talented player — and he and his protégée Dan Lanning may have landed upon a luxury blueprint of how to stack a quarterback room other contenders should consider in the day and age of the portal.
Both Moore and Rashada are free rolls for Oregon and Georgia. They’re blemished products, but they still have immense upside. If they buy in and work out, then the schools just grabbed a nice insurance option for 2024 and a potential starter in 2025.
If they don’t, they’ll be the first in line for the next disgruntled or castoff transfer quarterback.
This is how the rich get richer. Few programs can provide the type of supporting cast, coaching and opportunity of Georgia and Oregon, but there are other teams at the top of the sport who can replicate this model as well.
It’s hard to stack your quarterback rooms in the transfer portal era. Texas, with Arch Manning willing to wait his turn, and Ohio State, a room deep with talent, have done it one way. Oregon and Georgia showed there’s another way to do it, too.