Dante Moore 2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Oregon QB is rising quickly
The best midfielders in NFL You have a knack for making things look easy. The great irony is that this is not the case. It is the product of an extremely talented individual who has enough repetitions to feel the confidence that comes with mastering the craft. It’s a combination that shines almost immediately when you see it.
Within five weeks of College football Last season, no quarterback displayed that quality more than Oregon State’s Dante Moore. In just his ninth career start, Moore entered Penn State and He took down the No. 3 team in the country. He completely outplayed Drew Allard in the process and only put the ball in harm’s way once all day on a two-point conversion in overtime.
While Moore’s talent has been evident since he was the No. 4 overall recruit, Per 247Sportsin the 2023 class, is on his way to potential QB1 in 2026 NFL draft It has been a road less traveled in modern times.
Moore began his career at UCLA, where he started five games as a true freshman under Chip Kelly. With Kelly out after that season, Moore entered the transfer portal.
Instead of looking for a guaranteed starting job, Moore chose the Ducks, who had already lured Dillon Gabriel away from Oklahoma to be their starter. It was a path reminiscent of the one taken by Kyler Murray. The Arizona Cardinals quarterback was a freshman at Texas A&M, but after that season chose to transfer to Oklahoma despite Baker Mayfield being the starting starter. After two seasons on the bench, Murray’s game has changed, as he has become the best quarterback in the country and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
He served Moore well last year, developing into a very different quarterback than the last time we saw him. The flash arm talent and athleticism are clearly still there, but Moore’s newfound ability to be consistent in the pocket has been eye-catching. He’s averaging a ridiculous 8.8 yards per attempt when under pressure this season with no interceptions and has the second-lowest pressure-to-sack conversion rate in the country (3.2%). From an evaluation perspective, this is the holy grail.
As I mentioned before, this kind of calm only comes with mastery, and it’s clear on tape that Moore’s mechanics are truly elite. Whether it’s his easy, repetitive movement or his crisp footwork, Moore’s dedication to his craft is evident. The actor below illustrates what I’m talking about beautifully. He has his feet lined up at the top of his drop to throw the ball over the top, stops mid-motion when he realizes the linebacker has jumped on it, and immediately readjusts it into perfect alignment to throw the hole behind him.
It’s like Tiger Woods stopping mid-swing when the phone goes off – he makes it look easy, but it’s not easy. There are the starting quarterbacks NFL Who couldn’t do what Moore did above without feeling afraid. That was in the first week.
I want to reiterate that we are only five games into the season. There are still several tests Moore needs to pass before a first-round bye is a possibility, including No. 8 Indiana State in two weeks, as well as a potential Big Ten championship game and College football playoff round.
However, in those five games, he hasn’t given much cause for concern about passing those tests. He ranked first in the general selection level for physical ability.
Watching how easily he drives the ball down the field, Moore can’t help but conjure up images of Jayden Daniels at LSU. With seemingly little effort, the ball exploded out of his hand 50 yards downfield.
That’s how you want your best quarterback to run it. This is an athlete who could have excelled at many different sports, but decided to focus on quarterbacking. This is someone who can be developed further at the next level.
Naturally, the rush to crown someone as the “next big thing” in today’s era of instant gratification has led to some awkward whiffs about expectations. No one has crowned Moore yet, as evidenced by his odds of finishing first overall at over 700 points. DraftKings Sportsbook.
Instead, very few of the best quarterbacks played impressive enough ball to be considered the No. 1 overall player by the end of the season. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is one. John Matter was another Oklahoma player before his injury. And then, Moore might be the only other.
If he improves on what we’ve seen from him through five weeks this season and doesn’t have any down games, he’ll be my pick.
2026 NFL Draft No. 1 Pick Odds
player | school | probability |
---|---|---|
Lanoris sellers | South Carolina | +300 |
Garrett Nussmeyer | LSU | +360 |
Fernando Mendoza | Indiana | +500 |
Drew Allard | Pennsylvania | +600 |
Dante Moore | Oregon | +700 |
John Mateer | Oklahoma | +1000 |
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Dante Moore NFL draft Introductory account
CBS Prospect Ranking: No. 6 overall (No. 2 WR)
Consensus classification of the Grand Council (Via NFL Mock Draft Database): No. 7 overall (No. 4 QB)
To check out the latest CBSSports.com mock drafts, Click here.
NFL Comparison: Deshaun Watson
There is no great individual competition for Moore’s skill set. Aesthetically, he reminds me of Jayden Daniels, but he’s nowhere near the same athletic level. From a playing style perspective, the start of Deshaun Watson’s career makes a lot of sense. Moore is a playmaker with his arms and legs and exudes confidence in his game. This was how Watson handled the situation coming out of Clemson before the wheels fell off.
Strengths
- A smooth athlete who can create with his legs
- Easy and accurate throwing motion at all levels
- Insurmountable calm under pressure
Weaknesses
- Limited experience with less than 500 career regressions
- Under severe attack he doesn’t put much on his plate
- Trimming frame that still needs to add muscle
What do scouts say about Dante Moore?
“The NFL front office staff began bringing Dante in even before the Penn State game as someone whose play through the first part of the year had not gone unnoticed and as someone who was already starting to put himself on the NFL’s radar, even as a redshirt sophomore.
At that point, one of the assistant general managers said he was more on the radar “going forward” rather than being an obvious guy for next year’s draft, but that performance against Penn State appears to have made NFL scouts and front office staff more intrigued by Moore as a prospect as soon as next year’s draft.
“Projecting Moore doesn’t hurt the odds that people throughout the NFL personnel world will continue to view this as one of the most open quarterback classes in recent memory.” — Matt Zenitz (senior national football/college football correspondent for CBS Sports)
Renner 2026 NFL Mock Draft 2.0: Fernando Mendoza Stays at QB1; Rising star Dante Moore lands with Steelers
Mike Renner

Dante Moore College Statistics
season | g | A | Companies | at | comp% | Passing yards | TD | You | Passing Yards/Att | Pass efficiency rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2025 (Oregon) | 5 | 5 | 100 | 134 | 74.6% | 1,210 | 14 | 1 | 9.0 | 183.5 |
2024 (Oregon) | 5 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 87.5% | 49 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 139.0 |
2023 (UCLA) | 9 | 5 | 114 | 213 | 53.5% | 1,610 | 11 | 0 | 7.6 | 125.6 |
Professional life | 19 | 10 | 221 | 355 | 62.3% | 2869 | 25 | 10 | 8.1 | 147.7 |
Dante Moore 247 Athletic Profile
high school: Martin Luther King (Detroit)
season: 2023
classification: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (100)
- patriotic: 4 | QB: 3 | Michigan: 1
View Dante Moore’s full profile at 247Sports, here.