Kelly: Dante Moore’s game hints that football has a QB developmental problem | Opinion
Dante Moore has a snappy release, which makes the ball jump out of his hand with velocity.
He’s a polished distributor of the football, a quarterback who can change his arm angles and throwing style like a skilled Major League Baseball pitcher changes his pitches.
But the much-hyped 20-year-old quarterback, who is on the fence about declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft after his team completes its postseason run in the College Football Playoffs this month, had very little to do with why the Oregon Ducks advanced to next week’s semifinals round.
Moore, who completed 26 of 33 passes for 234 yards against Texas Tech, was the caretaker of Oregon’s offense in Thursday’s 23-0 win. But was not a difference-maker, which was disappointing to witness since he’s someone in the conversation to become the first quarterback taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, and subsequently, in the running to become the first overall pick.
To that I say, the NFL and college football have a quarterback developmental problem.
Especially since teams like the Las Vegas Raiders are intentionally sabotaging the end of their 2025 season to ensure they end up with an early draft pick, either positioning their franchise to select a young, cheap, unpolished quarterback early, or selling the right to select one to a quarterback-needy team like the Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals or New York Jets.
The problem is that all of them, and that includes Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner, are artificially elevated when it comes to their draft stock.
Mendoza and Moore are no Cam Ward, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick, whose playmaking prowess last season lifted the trajectory and expectations of what the Miami Hurricanes program had been for two-plus decades.
Moore failed to convert three fourth-down opportunities against the Red Raiders, two of which occurred when the Ducks were in scoring territory. The late third-quarter interception he threw kept the Red Raiders in Thursday’s game. GOOD college quarterbacks seize on those opportunities.
While Thursday’s Orange Bowl game was one performance, it stands out because the elites usually elevate their games when on this type of stage.
Moore needs to do that the rest of this postseason, or it’s hinting he will have just as much of a chance of becoming the next Anthony Richardson or Trey Lance, two first-round busts, as he does the next Justin Herbert, who also shined during his collegiate career at Oregon, or C.J. Stroud, who happens to be the passer he’s consistently compared to.
During the past 10 years, five quarterbacks — Mitchell Trubisky, Kyler Murray, the late Dwayne Haskins, Lance and Richardson — have been drafted in the first round with less than 20 career starts at the college level, and only Murray has been serviceable among them.
And Murray will likely be searching for a new NFL home this upcoming offseason since the Arizona Cardinals benched him for Jacoby Brissett this season.
While the NFL is all about projecting upside, and Moore supposedly has more of it than any of the other quarterbacks expected to enter the 2026 Draft, he’s far from a finished product, and might not even be an elite prospect, if we’re being honest.
While plenty of his throws looks effortless, showcasing a degree of velocity, precision and touch, I’ve watched him a few times — a couple games this season, including an in-person evaluation at the Orange Bowl — and was unimpressed each time.
He stares down his receivers a ton, primarily works out of the shotgun and rarely throws into tight windows, which is what NFL quarterbacks are required to do.
Moore needs more development to go with his velocity, precision and touch because he would quickly be figured out in the NFL, where the game moves faster, is more complicated, and the players are rougher and tougher. And then what?
Anyone with a half-decent arm can throw crossers to receivers, and check downs to tailbacks.
Where were the 15-yard outs, the deep digs and corner routes? Those are the type of passes an NFL starter needs to make regularly because of the tight windows they face.
What I saw Thursday won’t cut it in the NFL. At least not after defenses figure him out, and create a game plan to take away his favorite targets, routes and plays.
There’s nothing wrong with polishing your game in college football, especially with what starting quarterbacks are being paid -—$2 million to $4 million — in today’s NIL era of college athletics.
Moore would benefit more from polishing his skills on the college level, gaining more experience in the minor leagues than rolling the dice as an unfinished quarterback forced to be the face of an NFL franchise before he’s ready.
