Was Dante Moore and Oregon Snubbed by the Heisman Voters?

The Heisman Trophy Trust released the top 10 players who received votes for the prestigious award yesterday, and Oregon QB Dante Moore wasn’t anywhere to be found on the list. Was this a snub for the redshirt sophomore?

The fifth through 10th spots in the 2025 Heisman balloting were released tonight on The Top 10 Heisman Trophy Finalists Show Presented by @nissanusa, which aired live on @espn.#Heisman | #MoreThanATrophy pic.twitter.com/aNpNiHE3XV

— The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) December 12, 2025

The Ducks are preparing for their first-round matchup against the James Madison Dukes at Autzen Stadium next weekend. Obviously, this award doesn’t mean much compared to the overall goal of winning a national championship, but still… Why was Moore unrecognized for his contributions to one of the best teams in the country?

How did his season stack up against the other 10 players that did make the list?

Comparing Apples to Apples

It’s hard to look at a running back like Jeremiyah Love at Notre Dame or a receiver like Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State and compare their impact to a quarterback like Moore. Overall, there were four players who made the top ten that were not QBs. That leaves six signal callers who did make it over Moore, and we can compare their resumes.

Three of the finalists who will be in New York are QBs. Fernando Mendoza from Indiana, Diego Pavia from Vanderbilt, and Julian Sayin from Ohio State. Rounding out the top ten was Gunner Stockton from Georgia, Trinidad Chambliss from Ole Miss, and Haynes King from Georgia Tech.

Passing yards

• Julian Sayin – 3,323 (11^th)
• Diego Pavia – 3,192 (15^th)
• Trinidad Chambliss – 3,016 (23^rd)
• Fernando Mendoza – 2,980 (24^th)
• Dante Moore – 2,733 (43^rd)
• Haynes King – 2,697 (47^th)
• Gunner Stockton – 2,691 (48^th)

Yards Per Pass Attempt (min 100 attempts)

• Diego Pavia – 9.4 (4^th)
• Fernando Mendoza – 9.3 (6^th)
• Julian Sayin – 9.3 (6^th)
• Trinidad Chambliss – 9.1 (13^th)
• Dante Moore – 8.7 (17^th)
• Haynes King – 8.4 (29^th)
• Gunner Stockton – 7.6 (60^th)

Completion Percentage

• Julian Sayin – 78.4 (1st)
• Dante Moore – 74.5 (3^rd)
• Diego Pavia – 71.2 (5^th)
• Haynes King – 71 (6^th)
• Fernando Mendoza – 70.8 (7^th)
• Gunner Stockton – 70.7 (9^th)
• Trinidad Chambliss – 65.5 (51^st)

Touchdowns / Interceptions

• Fernando Mendoza – 33 / 6 (1^st)
• Julian Sayin – 31 / 6 (2^nd)
• Diego Pavia – 27 / 8 (9^th)
• Dante Moore – 24 / 6 (18^th)
• Trinidad Chambliss – 18 / 3 (45^th)
• Haynes King – 12 / 5 (83^rd)
• Gunner Stockton – 23 / 5 (23^rd)

Just looking at these basic raw stats, Moore is right in the middle statistically. He isn’t anywhere near Julian Sayin or Diego Pavia, but he has been far and away better than Gunner Stockton and Haynes King. I was shocked that Haynes King only has 12 passing touchdowns on the year. I had to double check the stats to make sure they were correct.

Advanced Stats and PFF Grades

If you look at advanced stats and PFF, Moore really separates himself from the pack. Maybe not as good as Sayin or Pavia, but miles ahead of Chambliss, Stockton, and King.

NFL Passer Rating

• Julian Sayin – 127.6 (1^st)
• Fernando Mendoza – 126.7 (2^nd)
• Diego Pavia – 117 (4^th)
• Dante Moore – 116.4 (5^th)
• Trinidad Chambliss – 108.6 (14^th)
• Gunner Stockton – 108.3 (16^th)
• Haynes King – 101.7 (36^th)

PFF Offensive Grade

• Julian Sayin – 93.2 (1^st)
• Diego Pavia – 92.0 (2^nd)
• Dante Moore – 91.2 (3^rd)
• Fernando Mendoza – 90.5 (5^th)
• Trinidad Chambliss – 84.4 (27^th)
• Haynes King – 89.3 (12^th)
• Gunner Stockton – 83.2 (31^st)

PFF Passer Grade

• Julian Sayin – 92.9 (1^st)
• Dante Moore – 90.9 (2^nd)
• Diego Pavia – 90.8 (3^rd)
• Fernando Mendoza – 88.2 (8^th)
• Haynes King – 84.7 (15^th)
• Gunner Stockton – 82.1 (26^th)
• Trinidad Chambliss – 81.4 (27^th)

Moore is widely considered a top 5 draft pick in this upcoming NFL draft. Possibly top 2 or 3. The NFL loves him, PFF loves him, and passer rating has him as a top 3 QB in college football. Why don’t the Heisman voters love him? Is it team resume?

Oregon Ducks Resume

The Ducks finished the 2025 season with an 11-1 record. Their only loss coming at home to the #1 ranked Indiana Hoosiers. Oregon is currently ranked #5 in the college football playoff bracket. Surely, it’s resume that puts some of these players ahead of Moore?

Oregon is the only team in the top 6 without a Heisman candidate in the top 10 in votes. Indiana has Mendoza and Ohio State has Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and Caleb Downs. The third ranked Bulldogs have Stockton, Texas Tech has Jacob Rodriguez, and Ole Miss has Chambliss.

Texas A&M is the only other team with a record of 11-1 or better without a top 10 Heisman finalist. While the two teams might have the same record, Marcel Reed isn’t anywhere near Moore in terms of production or advanced metrics. He’s 104^th in offensive grade on PFF, 97^th in passing grade, and 37^th in NFL passer rating.

The Ducks have a better SP+ ranking than Georgia, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt. They also had a tougher strength of schedule (19^th) than Ohio State (28^th), Indiana (29^th), Vanderbilt (25^th), Ole Miss (40^th), Notre Dame (44^th) Texas Tech (54^th) and Georgia Tech (68^th). Georgia is only one spot ahead of Oregon in SOS (18^th).

Make it Make Sense

Oregon had the second toughest schedule out of all those teams, Moore outplayed half the field, and yet… not in the top 10 in voting.

To be fair to King, he also had 922 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. Georgia Tech finished 9-3 and 5^th in the ACC. He was their leading rusher as well as their leading passer. A one-man offense. The Ducks had significantly more overall talent and more weapons than Georgia Tech.

I guess sometimes it’s hard to stand out when you’re surrounded by so many gifted players. It will be humorous to watch a large number of Ducks hear their names called at the draft this spring, possibly including Moore, without having won any accolades or awards.

Was Dante Moore snubbed? Yes he was.