Dante Moore has a massive decision to make. With Oregon eliminated from the playoffs, Moore has to decide whether he will enter the 2026 NFL Draft, where many think he’ll be the second quarterback off the board, or stay in college for another year. With Dylan Raiola transferring to Oregon and Will Stein leaving for Kentucky, it appears Moore could very well be heading to the draft, but should he?

It’s going to be hard to turn down the type of money that comes with being the No. 2 pick in the draft, but there are a few reasons I think he should stay at Oregon for another year.

There’s Still Work to be Done

Let me preface this by saying I love Moore’s game. I think he’s a great quarterback, and he’s going to be a first-round pick in the near future. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of work to be done before he’s a polished, NFL-ready quarterback.

The biggest thing Moore needs to work on is cutting down on bad throws. In pretty much every big game he played this year, there were a few throws that made you scratch your head. He faced seven ranked teams this season, and his TD:INT ratio in those games was 12-8. And four of those touchdowns came against JMU in a blowout in the first round of the CFP. All but one of his turnover-worthy plays came in those seven games.

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Moore’s numbers dropped dramatically when put under pressure, too. Obviously, you don’t expect him to be as good under pressure as he is with a clean pocket, but his numbers are drastically different.

Moore has all the tools to be an elite NFL quarterback. He’s 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, has a big arm, and can move when he needs to. But there are still things he needs to work on, so I think another year in college would be more beneficial than starting in the NFL as an unprepared rookie or sitting on the bench for a year.

His Experience Will Only Help Him Next Year

Dante Moore is only 20 years old, but he’s been around the block. He started at UCLA as a true freshman, then got benched and transferred to Oregon before sitting behind Dillon Gabriel for a year. Moore finally got his opportunity to start for the Ducks in 2025, and he took off. He is much more experienced than a typical 20-year-old, which makes the prospect of what he can become even more exciting. He still has a ton of room for growth, but he also has 20 starts under his belt, with three of those coming in the College Football Playoffs.

His age mixed with his experience makes him a fascinating prospect. If he’s already being mentioned as the QB2 in this draft class, can you imagine how teams will view him with another year under his belt? The experience he got this year will help him take another step in 2026, and who knows, with that next step, he could even lead Oregon to a National Championship.

As I said before, I think another year in college would benefit him more than going to the NFL and either starting as a rookie at 21 years old or sitting on the bench for a season. Let him get some more Big 10 reps, and then see what he can do at the next level as a 22-year-old with 30+ college starts.

You’d Probably End Up a Jet…

The final, and biggest, reason why Moore should stay at Oregon another year is that if he comes out, he’s likely going to be a New York Jet. And when has that worked out for any young quarterback in the 21st century?

Since 2000, the Jets have drafted Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens, Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Christian Hackenberg, Sam Darnold, and Zach Wilson in the first or second round of the draft. Outside of maybe Sanchez, none of these guys hit. At least, not in New York.

Sam Darnold and Geno Smith looked like absolute busts in New York before going on to become starters elsewhere. They both made career resurgences outside of the Big Apple, which just goes to show how bad a spot New York would be for Moore. They couldn’t even make Aaron Rodgers look great there.

The Jets (and Browns) are where quarterbacks’ dreams go to die. If you’re a young quarterback with a lot of promise but also a lot of development left, the Jets is the last team you want to end up on. They haven’t been able to develop a young quarterback this century, and I don’t think things would magically change with Moore. There’s a curse on the Jets. After Joe Namath’s Super Bowl guarantee, the football gods won’t allow the Jets to have another good quarterback.

The money will be enticing, but staying in college for one more year is probably Moore’s best bet. Even if he ends up as QB2 again next year, at least he probably won’t end up a Jet. And that alone could save his career.