For those reasons, it should come as no surprise that ESPN has him listed among 45 potential 2027 draftees to watch in college football come next season. Along with Moore, defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington<\/a>, who was seen as a potential first-round pick, also decided to run it back in 2026.<\/p>\n Washington, unsurprisingly, is also on the list.<\/p>\n Washington surprised some in the NFL by\u00a0returning for the 2026 season, and he was immediately penciled in as the top defensive tackle in the class,” ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller<\/a> wrote. “Washington dominates with his strength and anchor ability at 6-foot-3, 330 pounds. He has rare burst for his size and controls gaps with power and lateral agility. He was probably a Round 1 target in the 2026 class and will have a strong case for DT1 next season.”<\/p>\n Joining Moore and Washington on the list is a player who transferred to Oregon last season with little expectations \u2014 yet by the end of the season, he’d solidified himself as a key player on the offense and one with a higher ceiling than previously expected.<\/p>\n Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n Tight end Jamari Johnson<\/a> is that player, as he began the season with just nine catches in the first seven games before leading the team in receiving in three games down the stretch of the season amid injuries to starter Kenyon Sadiq<\/a> and in the wide receiver room.<\/p>\n “My top tight end for the 2027 class, Johnson has occasionally overshadowed teammate and likely top-50 pick\u00a0Kenyon Sadiq,” Miller wrote. “Johnson shines on tape despite not being the Ducks<\/a>‘ TE1 thanks to his all-around size and strength at 6-foot-5 and 257 pounds. He has sure hands and excellent burst even with a big frame, and shows the power to play inline if needed, which differentiates him from many college tight ends.”<\/p>\n Johnson was a trusted target for Moore down the stretch of the season and should have a big year in 2026 as the TE1 for the Ducks<\/a>.<\/p>\n The final Duck that Miller listed has yet to play a game at Oregon, as he arrived to Eugene during the latest transfer portal cycle: former Minnesota star safety Koi Perich<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Perich is a do-it-all player with experience at safety, punt returner and running back,” Miller wrote. “He\u00a0leaves Minnesota for Oregon\u00a0after posting 128 tackles and six interceptions in two seasons. He has 4.4 speed and the ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. Perich is scheme-versatile with NFL size (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) and proven playmaking skills. He needs to be more consistent in coverage but is a Round 1 prospect with top-15 potential.”<\/p>\n Similar to Purdue transfer safety Dillon Thieneman, Perich is coming to Oregon with Round 1 potential and is just hoping to harness it and bolster his draft stock on the biggest stage \u2014 while competing for a national championship.<\/p>\n Those are similar reasons that each of Moore, Washington and Johnson \u2014\u00a0who was draft eligible and had garnered draft buzz in the 2026 class \u2014 decided to return. And as Miller titled his column, you’re gonna want to watch these four Ducks as they do their thing next fall.<\/p>\n Contact\/Follow\u00a0@Ducks_Wire<\/a>\u00a0on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon\u00a0Ducks<\/a>\u00a0news, notes and opinions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan. 16, 2026, 12:00 p.m. PT With his decision to return to the Oregon Ducks for one more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[95878,7,6,15,99793,96358,95882,96219,96027,95892,95896,97513,95906,95883,99794,95881],"class_list":["post-682775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-accessfree","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-sstssportscollegeducksfootball","tag-sstsnfootball","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagbig-10-hub","tag-tagcollege-sports","tag-tagespn-inc","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagoregon-ducks-football","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagwashington","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/88112317007-2255468966.jpg\")