College Football's Top 25 Most Important Players: No. 8 QB Dante Moore, Oregon Ducks

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore walked into new offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer's office this spring and got asked a question most quarterbacks never hear from a coordinator taking over their offense.

Moore said Mehringer asked him what he liked and what he didn't like, then the two of them went through Oregon's entire playbook and changed things up. That kind of input is not typical for a first-year coordinator to hand a quarterback, and it tells you how much of Oregon's 2026 season is now built directly around Moore rather than around a scheme he has to fit into.

Mehringer replaces Will Stein, who left to become Kentucky's head coach, but he is not new to the building. He spent four years as Oregon's tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator under Dan Lanning, which means Moore is adjusting to a new voice calling plays rather than a new system entirely.

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No. 8: Dante Moore, QB, Oregon Ducks

Moore turned down a chance at nearly $50 million in guaranteed money and a top-two selection in the 2026 NFL Draft to come back for this exact setup. He now has a completely rebuilt group of weapons at his disposal.

Evan Stewart returns from the torn patellar tendon that cost him all of 2025, and CBS Sports ranked Oregon's pass-catching corps the best in the country entering the season, ahead of Miami and Texas. Dakorien Moore is moving into a bigger role after an injury-shortened freshman year, tight end Jamari Johnson takes over as the top target at his position after Kenyon Sadiq left for the NFL, and UAB transfer Iverson Hooks adds another option at slot receiver.

One analyst who covers the position group projected that two of Oregon's receivers could each clear 1,000 yards this season, something that hasn't happened at Oregon since Bo Nix's final year running the offense in 2023.

Why Dante Moore matters so much to Oregon in 2026

The bigger question is whether Moore protects the football against the teams that beat him last season. He threw five interceptions against three touchdowns in his four games against ranked competition in 2025, and 11 of the 17 sacks he took all year came in those same four games.

The lowest point was the first play of the Peach Bowl, when Indiana's D'Angelo Ponds read his eyes and ran back an interception for a touchdown on Oregon's opening snap of the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Moore fumbled again in the same game, and Indiana turned both takeaways into a 56-22 rout that ended Oregon's season. Afterward, Moore said the quarterback has to protect the football first, and that accountability now becomes the standard Oregon needs him to meet against the exact kind of competition that beat him.

That competition is already on the schedule. Oregon opens Sept. 5 at home against Boise State at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS, but the season will actually be decided on the road at USC on Sept. 26 and at Ohio State on Nov. 7, plus home dates against Michigan on Nov. 14 and Washington on Nov. 28.

Phil Steele's preseason Heisman list has Moore at No. 2 behind only Arch Manning, but the model for winning the award while playing that schedule already exists. Indiana's Fernando Mendoza won it last season by beating Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State back to back to back, including the Big Ten Championship Game.

Moore has the weapons this year that he didn't have last year. Whether he has the answer for the Indianas of the world is what decides if Oregon finally wins the national championship it has never won.

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