The 2025 college football season has been one for the books in Eugene thus far, with the Oregon Ducks storming out to a 5-0 record, looking like arguably the best team in the nation. That was cemented by their 30-24 double-overtime win over the Penn State Nittany Lions on the road this past weekend, a statement of a victory in Beaver Stadium during a White-Out.

One of the reasons this season has been such a success for the Ducks is the play of quarterback Dante Moore, a redshirt sophomore who stepped into the starting role, following in the footsteps of Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel, both of whom were Heisman Trophy finalists in the past two years.

So far, Moore appears to be well on his way to upholding the standard of QB play in Eugene, as he is the leader in the Heisman race when it comes to betting odds, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

However, despite the overwhelming success, there has been a downside to Moore’s stellar play through five games. Duck fans are quickly coming to the realization that they may need to enjoy No. 5 as much as they can, while they can.

Coming into the year, there was a common belief that the next two years of Oregon football would feature Moore at the helm of the offense. However, if he continues to play this well, an early jump to the NFL could be possible in the spring of 2026. Could it be that the Ducks may see their new favorite quarterback leave after just one year starting in Eugene?

According to a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, that’s not the current expectation, according to people close to the situation.

“All the talk inside the Moore camp is that he’s in no rush to leave Oregon for the NFL,” Feldman wrote on Tuesday. “They’ve seen how the added seasoning benefitted Jayden Daniels, who flourished as a rookie last year. Moore won’t turn 21 until a month after the 2026 draft.”

More than Daniels, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2023 — his fifth season in college — before being drafted No. 2 overall by the Washington Commanders and winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, Oregon will undoubtedly be showing Moore how much an extra year benefited someone like Bo Nix. Instead of jumping to the NFL following his first season with the Ducks in 2022, the Auburn transfer returned for the 2023 season and had a career year, leading the Ducks to the Fiesta Bowl while becoming a Heisman finalist and eventually a first-round draft pick.

While these development stories may be impactful for Moore to consider, they won’t stop NFL scouts from conducting their own research and ultimately trying to sway one of the top QBs into the draft after a previously highly touted quarterback class has appeared to be somewhat over-hyped.

“The NFL scouting director thinks that, because the 2026 QB class isn’t looking as strong as many expected, scouts are going to push to ramp up their evaluations of Moore, just in case there’s a temptation to leave sooner than expected because of a new opportunity,” Feldman writes.

It is a question that will linger for the remainder of the year in Eugene, and one that neither Oregon fans nor Dante Moore will have an answer to until the season is over. For the Duck faithful who are looking for a reason to be hopeful, though, it has been made clear throughout his college career that Moore values development. After struggling in his freshman season at UCLA, the former 5-star QB could have transferred to his pick of schools to become a starter as a true sophomore. Instead, he chose to come to Oregon, sit behind Dillon Gabriel for a season, learn the system, and improve his skills.

Will he make a similar decision when it comes to staying in college, or going to the NFL with a multi-million dollar check dangling above his head? That’s a different question, and one that we will be following closely for the next several months.

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