Dante Moore Out for Season; 2027 Draft Stock Sits at No. 45

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore will sit out the remainder of the 2026 season to recover from a concussion sustained in September against USC, according to team coach Dan Lanning on Monday.

The injury ends Moore's playing time for the Ducks, who stand at 4-3 overall. The loss at Illinois removed the team from the College Football Playoff conversation. Moore had returned to Eugene this offseason with the goal of leading the program back to a title contender status, but the team regressed across all areas of play.

Moore has two primary paths forward. He can return to college football in 2027 under the NCAA five-for-five rule or declare for the 2027 NFL Draft. CBS Sports lists him as the No. 45 overall prospect in the current draft cycle. In that scenario, he is projected as the fifth quarterback in the first round at No. 30 overall.

The quarterback showed high-end potential before the injury. Over three-plus games this season, he completed 69.7 percent of his passes for 926 yards and nine touchdowns without an interception. He did not appear as comfortable in the system installed by interim offensive coordinator Josh Mehringer as he did under previous coordinator Will Stein.

Moore’s camp previously negotiated a NIL contract with Oregon that included an insurance policy for serious injuries. The plan assumed that more game experience would improve his draft stock. That strategy backfired as the Ducks underperformed. NFL draft analyst Josh Edwards noted that transferring to another struggling program offers little benefit. He suggested Moore might be better off taking his chances in the NFL.

Evaluators must now assess his long-term health and upside. They will determine if four seasons as a Power Four quarterback warrant Day 1 billing if he enters the draft. The decision rests with Moore, who has the runway to re-evaluate his options without rushing back to the field.

The former five-star recruit was rated the fourth-best player nationally in the 2023 recruiting cycle by 247Sports. He started his first six college games at UCLA for 1,610 yards and nine touchdowns before transferring to Oregon. He served as a backup in 2024 before starting in 2025, when he led the Ducks to 13 wins with 3,565 passing yards and 30 touchdowns.

Moore finished that 2025 campaign with a 71 percent completion rate. The Ducks advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals, where they lost to Indiana. Four of his ten interceptions last season came during that playoff run. He was not named a Heisman finalist that year.