How Oregon’s Dante Moore and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza became unlikely darlings in the NFL
Almost two years Before that, on a Saturday night in Pasadena with little to play between 7-4 UCLA and 5-6 Cal, Dante Moore and Fernando Mendoza faced off at the Rose Bowl in the final regular-season game.
Moore was coming off an up-and-down rookie season with the Bruins during which he went from getting the starting job to losing it and then getting it again. It was his sixth start of the year. Meanwhile, Mendoza began his new campaign as the third-string quarterback before taking over the Golden Bears for the final seven games of the season.
Although their journeys to that point were far from similar, both quarterbacks were thrown straight into the cauldron as freshmen and asked to build experience while helping their teams win games. This game, which Cal won 33-7 and saw Mendoza and Moore throw two interceptions each, was a reminder that they are far from finished products.
Two seasons later, they are set to face off again — this time with Mendoza leading Indiana and Moore leading Oregon to undefeated records, a top-10 rankings and a clear path to the College Football Playoff. In the process, they’ve both also become fans of the NFL draft, and unlikely up-and-comers within a quarterback draft class that has thus far seemed disjointed at best.
“That’s why Mendoza, to me, has gained the most power,” one NFL executive said.
Another NFL executive said Moore, not Mendoza, ranks in the top three in quarterback rankings.
Both under-the-radar three-stars and seemingly forgotten five-stars have shown flashes of high-level attributes that could make them not only tantalizing future NFL prospects, but also the ideal players to lead their teams at this very moment.
“I think we’ve got the best quarterback in college football,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning declared after the Ducks’ win at Penn State.
“Mendoza is another one of those players that I think is going to play on Sunday,” Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said earlier this year. “He makes some throws, you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ … I think seeing him on the field, and the advancements he makes when he’s in the pocket is absolutely incredible.”
There was also Many signs point in one direction for Mendoza. He had already graduated from Cal and was set to enter his third season under a fourth different offensive coordinator, one who he said didn’t feel quite aligned with his priorities.
“I wanted to be in a system that I thought would translate well to the next level,” Mendoza told ESPN in a preseason interview.
The NFL was his childhood dream, of course, but he didn’t think it was real until the chatter started last offseason. During the high school recruiting process, Mendoza, who is from Miami, only received offers from Cal, FIU, Yale and Penn.
“The whole thing went from ‘Hey, I want to go to DI’ to ‘I want to start a game.’ ‘I want to win a game,’ to ‘I want to be a full-time starter,'” Mendoza said. “It kind of escalated, and then earlier this year, I talked to some people, and I read some things like, ‘Wow, is this actually true? Could this be possible?’
Mendoza’s improvement has been mostly linear, but the breakthrough came last season when he threw for 3,004 yards on a 68.7% completion rate to go along with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. Through five games this year, Mendoza has thrown for 1,208 yards at a 73% contest rate (top 10 in the country) while already matching his 16 touchdowns from last season with just one interception.
“I look at some of my clips from fall camp last year at Cal to this year and I’m just a completely different quarterback,” Mendoza said.
The same can be said about Moore. His gap year, when he watched Dillon Gabriel excel in offensive coordinator Will Stein’s system, didn’t provide much clue as to how he would perform, but the early returns were excellent: 1,210 yards, 14 touchdowns and one interception. Like Mendoza, Moore’s completion rate (74.6%) is one of the top 10 in the country as well.
Nationally, Mendoza (0.55) and Moore (0.50) rank third and fourth in EPA per drop, trailing only USC’s Jayden Miava (0.63) and Marshall’s Carlos Del Rio Wilson (0.56). They both have two of the best touchdown pass rates per attempt in the country — Mendoza is first at 13.1% while Moore is third at 10.4% — and no other quarterback has better touchdown-to-interception ratios than them. And the crimes in question that they lead to? Both are ranked in the top 10 in SP+.
Mendoza attributes the smooth transition to getting into an established system rather than having to build it from the ground up himself. Through flashcard contests with his teammates and a significant amount of studying the playbook, Mendoza has tried to erase any learning curve, and the fact that many of his teammates have been with the program for two, three or even four years, Mendoza said, has helped raise his level of play. In other words, that’s exactly what he envisioned when he made the call to head to Bloomington.
“Everyone thinks he’s very talented,” one NFL executive said of Mendoza. “He’s a big kid, throws the ball really well. The ball comes out of his hand like a legitimate NFL football player.”
“When his first read is not there, he kind of panics, and his mechanisms go away,” the executive said. “But that’s the only negative thing about him as a player. Iowa gave him a problem, took away some key things.”
The possibility of Mendoza being the first choice is “not out of the question,” the executive added.
The problem in the room is that this quarterback class doesn’t quite have the heavy-handed potential that others have had in the past. That’s why, one NFL executive said, Mendoza and Moore (along with Oklahoma’s John Mater) were the biggest up-and-comers this season.
Moore Road to Oregon was not so much unexpected as delayed. He committed to the Ducks at one point during his recruitment before changing course and heading to UCLA instead. After a season filled with mistakes and mistakes by freshmen, Chip Kelly’s departure to Ohio State made Moore’s decision easy.
“I knew I was coming to Oregon. Coach Lanning and I had that connection, of course,” Moore told ESPN in an interview last offseason. “Everyone says, ‘Bro, you’re supposed to be here, whatever.’ I say, ‘Man, everything happens for a reason.’ So I’m here now.”
An unconventional move to Eugene ended up being the best thing for Moore. As he sat back and watched Gabriel’s success, it was further proof that he made the right decision.
“It takes a special person, a guy who can handle things like Beau [Nix]Like Dillon [Gabriel] “And like Dante Moore to keep this thing rolling at the rate we want to keep it rolling,” Stein said.
The year he spent on the bench and offseason workouts in Dallas alongside NFL stars like Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes made Moore that guy. Through five games, he has looked comfortable and in tune as part of an attack full of playmakers but still needs a guiding hand. For Stein, the challenge of getting the most out of any quarterback is part of the fun. Unlike Nicks or Gabriel, who moved on and were only under Stein for one season, with Moore, there was some long-term development that was mutually beneficial.
“For me, developing a quarterback is going to an offense that has proven success and is able to prepare you to play at the next level,” Stein said. “Can you go and execute an NFL-style offense? Can you handle a little longer play call? Can you change the protection? Can you change the run? And then can you go out and operate in a hostile environment and do that?”
Although he entered the year as quietly as any former five-star prospect, the poised Moore quickly turned up the volume with his play. The challenge of handling a Penn State crowd of 111,015 and leading Oregon State to an overtime victory in that environment felt like passing his first big test. Suddenly, he was one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.
“As he plays more, you can see he’s building on his success and his confidence and his belief, and he’s one of the greatest quarterbacks in the country,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said of Moore. “There’s no doubt about that.”
While Cignetti was quick to praise Moore, he was more reserved with his quarterback, expressing his confidence in Mendoza, but always noting there was more to improve even as Indiana continued to win.
However, Mendoza claims to be one of the “great midfielders in the country” as well. After all, this season is going exactly as he imagined it would. Going to Indiana wasn’t just a change of scenery, an NIL boost or even a chance to prepare for the NFL.
“I want to win as many games as I can. At Cal, I had six wins both years. I really wanted to have at least one win season by double digits,” Mendoza said. “I don’t play football because of external factors. I really love football. I would have played football if I were a player without a scholarship.”
Saturday’s game in Eugene will be far from the final referendum on Mendoza and Moore as potential NFL quarterbacks. But with 16 NFL scouts scheduled to be at Autzen Stadium, all eyes will be on more than just the score this time.
Jake Trotter contributed to this story.