BATON ROUGE, La. — Oregon is one of the two Big Ten rosters Kirk Herbstreit called loaded on Thursday. The quarterback who chose to stay is the reason he expects a jump.
Herbstreit took the question at Raising Cane’s “The Mothership” on Highland Road, where he had spent part of the morning working with owner and founder Todd Graves. He calls LSU against Clemson tonight for ABC. Dante Moore passed on a projected top-five selection in the 2026 draft to return to Eugene.
Kirk Herbstreit On Dante Moore’s Decision
Herbstreit said Moore could have gone in the top five last year and is going to have a monster season now that he is back in Eugene.
“College football, at that position specifically, is very cyclical. One year, like last year, we don’t have that many first-rounders. Now this year, a lot of guys are coming back,” Herbstreit said. “Like Dante Moore, he could have been a first-rounder, probably a top-five pick last year. Decided to come back this year to Oregon, and he’s going to have a monster year. So if you’re in the need of a quarterback, and it seems like a lot of NFL teams are, this is a great year to be up near the top of the draft because there’s going to be a lot of them that are going to go in the early draft this year.”
What Dante Moore Turned Down
Moore announced the decision Jan. 14 on ESPN’s SportsCenter. He had completed nearly 72% of his throws for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 2025. He would likely have been the second quarterback off the board, behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Moore gave up a shot at nearly $50 million in guaranteed money. Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in 2025, signed for $46.65 million fully guaranteed.
Only two quarterbacks went in the first two rounds in April. Mendoza was one. Alabama’s Ty Simpson was the other.
Moore came out of Detroit’s Martin Luther King High School as a five-star prospect. Rivals ranked him second in the 2023 class, behind Texas quarterback Arch Manning.
Oregon’s Preseason Standing
Oregon opens the season ranked second, the highest preseason ranking in program history. Only Ohio State is ahead of the Ducks.
Oregon went 13-2 last season and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals. Both losses came against Indiana, which won the national title in January.
Coach Dan Lanning is in his fifth season in Eugene and has yet to win a national championship. No Oregon player has won the Heisman Trophy since Marcus Mariota in 2014. Moore enters the year among the contenders, and several 2027 mock drafts project him first overall.
Oregon hosts Boise State today in Eugene. LSU and Clemson kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT tonight on ABC.
