Dan Lanning has closed the door. Dante Moore will not return this season, and the major concussion he suffered against USC ended Oregon’s hope of getting its quarterback back. For weeks, fans waited for an update and held onto the chance he could play again before the season wrapped up, but according to an ESPN insider, Lanning confirmed that chance is gone.
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Pete Thamel’s latest report turned Dante Moore’s recovery into a question about his future. Now the Ducks have to plan without him, and Moore has to think about his role and his NFL Draft standing.
“Well, Dante Moore is obviously not going to return this year, and what I’ve been told is Dante Moore is going to stick in Eugene and stay with Oregon and operate as their scout team quarterback for the rest of the year,” Thammel said on the Sports Center on October 27.
Moore was coming off the back of a successful 2025 season with 3,565 passing yards and 30 touchdowns thrown.
“If Dante Moore had come out in the previous draft, he likely would have been the number two overall pick in the last draft,” he added in the X post. “Dante Moore had a solid season. It wasn’t the stepping stone that he had hoped for, and many had hoped he would take it to the NFL level. But the overwhelming expectation is that Dante Moore is going to declare for the NFL Draft after this season.”
Moore had already been sidelined for three consecutive games because of the head injury, and his HC, Dan Lanning, confirmed on Monday that Moore’s campaign is over for this season. Before his concussion, Moore and the Ducks were with just one loss in the season.
Before his injury, he’d completed 926 yards and 9 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. Moore entered the season as a Heisman Trophy contender, so the expectations were riding high on him and the Ducks.
In 2025, Moore helped the Ducks finish with a 13–2 record. Moore had a 71% completion rate. Before the 2026 draft, analysts expected Moore to be picked in the first round.
He was considered a potential top-three pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Moore considered the possibility of declaring for the NFL Draft. However, in January, he decided not to enter that draft and returned to Oregon for another season.
Moore, as per the NCAA’s “5-for-5” rule, has another year of college eligibility available and can return to Oregon for another year. According to CBS Sports, Moore’s representatives worked out important things before he returned to Oregon. They considered insurance that could provide financial protection if a serious injury affected his future NFL Draft prospects.
Moore’s decision to come back was to improve his draft prospects by playing another year, but that plan backfired for the QB. Moore’s NFL dream is far from dead, though. Thamel believes the Oregon quarterback could still hear his name called in the first round of the 2027 NFL Draft.
“He’s considered a first-round pick,” Thamel added in the same interview. “It might not have been what it was, but Dante Moore is likely going to go in the first round, and even though this quarterback class has fumbled around a little bit, Matt, it still wouldn’t be a surprise if we see five quarterbacks go in the first round this year. Yeah, we had high hopes for this quarterback draft class, and that’s gone down a little bit.”
As per CBS, he is ranked the 45th-best overall prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft class. In their latest mock draft, Moore is projected to be selected 30th overall, making him the fifth quarterback expected to be picked in the first round. However, it sure is a significant drop from his previous year’s projections, but it is still something.
“The idea of transferring, falling into another subpar situation, and tanking his stock even more is also less than ideal. He may be better off taking his chances in the NFL,” NFL analyst Josh Edwards said.
Even on ESPN’s Mel Kiper’s 2027 NFL Draft big board, he is ranked 25th. So it would be a smart decision to enter the big leagues rather than tanking his stock further, which might be problematic for him.