UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Quentin Moore Is Not in Kansas Anymore
Corey Dillon played junior-college football in Kansas and Utah before returning home to the University of Washington 25 years ago as a fully mature running back soon bound for the NFL.
Quentin Moore recently took a similar JC football detour through the Midwest, only skipping the second leg of Dillon's journey, and he's a Husky tight end set to be a big-play guy at some point.
The message here is some football players have to improvise and go off the beaten path to make their college careers unfold in a big way.
Dillon spent a productive season at Garden City Community College in the southwestern corner of Kansas before moving to Utah. Moore stayed a year at Independence CC in the southeastern corner of the state. Their JC towns are 320 miles apart.
Both needed to get their grades in order and develop physically before they could come home and join the Huskies.
In 1996, Dillon became part of an extremely deep UW running-back corps, initially backing up Rashaan Shehee before turning in several jaw-dropping and record-breaking performances.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Moore likewise finds himself in a tight-end room surrounded by NFL prospects. Yet at times this spring, he was so good he resembled a wide receiver, if not another Hunter Bryant hybrid, exhibiting speed down the middle to go with all that size.
"He's big and fast and he can move," UW wide-receivers coach Junior Adams said. "He's got good feet. I like Quentin. The sky's the limit for him."
Asked if he might be inclined to steal Moore away from the Husky tight-end position and coach Derham Cato, Adams feigned instant concern, saying, "Don't tell Derm."
Quentin Moore hustles to practice.
Dan Raley
Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.
Moore wears No. 88, a Husky jersey number that belongs only to him on this roster. NFL-bound tight ends Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Drew Sample, plus edge rusher Mike Ewaliko, previously made the digit memorable at the UW.
He's the son of a former Seahawks cornerback named Mark Moore, who is five inches shorter, formerly of Oklahoma State and played just the 1987 NFL season in Seattle.
The younger Moore emerged from Independence as the No. 1-rated JC tight end in the country. In his lone season there, he caught 38 passes for 547 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Similar to Corey Dillon, Moore returned to his hometown a new man ready to take on considerable Husky tight-end competition for playing time. From the early reviews, he looks able to handle it.
2021 Outlook: Projected reserve tight end
UW Service Time: None
Stats: None
Individual Honors: Not yet
Pro prospects: 2024 NFL second-day draftee
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