Ever since Oregon saw it's season come to a close in the College Football Playoff Semifinals, one big question has been on the mind of Oregon fans: Will Dante Moore return for one more season? Wednesday had to bring an answer to the question as it was the final day for players not in the National Championship Game to declare for the NFL Draft.
Dante Moore started his career off as a 5-star recruit opting to stay home and play for the UCLA Bruins. After a shaky season, Dante Moore made the rare decision to transfer to Oregon opting to spend aa year developing behind Dillon Gabriel before returning to a starting role.
For most of the season, it seemed like Dante Moore would likely be back in 2026, but things then were complicated. As other top quarterbacks struggled, Dante Moore rose up the draft boards, becoming the 2nd best quarterback in the draft class behind Fernando Mendoza.
Dante Moore announces he'll return in 2026
On Wednesday, Dante Moore appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter where he announced that he'll be returning to Oregon in 2026.
The decision makes a ton of sense for Dante Moore as he looked like a potential Top 5 pick at times this season, but he needs more experience. In the matchups against Indiana, Moore showed that he still has some big strides to make in his development before jumping to the NFL.
We've seen countless quarterbacks jump to the NFL before they're fully experienced and it's cost them as they struggled in their development whereas they could've come out a year later and would've been better prepared to play in the NFL.
This season, Dante Moore completed 71.8% of his passes for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.
Dante Moore's decision puts Oregon on the shortlist of contenders for 2026 as this young Oregon team is only going to get better. Dan Lanning has already gotten off to a fast start in the Transfer Portal landing elite safety Koi Perich and UAB wide receiver Iverson Hooks while Moore returning will only attract more high end talent to Eugene.