Dante Moore’s season is over.
Whether his college career is seems to be another question, at least for now.
Moore and Oregon suffered a 56-22 loss to Indiana in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal on Friday night in Atlanta, and when asked by reporters about his future with NFL draft speculation ramping up, he said his thoughts were more focused on what happened in the Peach Bowl.
“I’m gonna just soak this moment up, most importantly, giving my hugs and thank yous to my teammates,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t know my decision yet. I’m gonna talk to Coach [Dan] Lanning and my family and everybody. But at the end of the day, I don’t want to think about that right now. I wanna think of my teammates and give love to them.”
The redshirt sophomore, though obviously yet to declare for the pros, has shot up plenty of mock drafts, with ESPN’s latest putting Moore at No. 2 to the quarterback-starved Jets.
The Worldwide Leader’s draft guru, Mel Kiper Jr., actually has Moore ahead of Heisman Trophy winner — and the victor in Friday’s game — Fernando Mendoza in his latest big board that focuses on pure talent based on his evaluations.
Moore started Friday night on the wrong foot by throwing a pick-six on the first offensive play from scrimmage. He did lead a touchdown drive on the next possession, but fumbled twice in the first half as Oregon couldn’t keep up with top-ranked Indiana.
He finished the day 24-for-39 passing with two touchdowns.
Moore came into the night as one of the top passers in the country with 3,280 yards and 28 touchdowns to lead the Ducks into the final four of the playoff.
The attention now focuses on the Jets after they finished an ugly 3-14 season where they used Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook under center to varying degrees of disappointment.
If Moore does decides to return to school, that will add another layer of intrigue in the draft.
