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The Oregon Ducks are expected to contend for the program's first national championship next season, thanks in large part to the return of star quarterback Dante Moore. After his first season as the starter for the Ducks, Moore could have been a top-5 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, but he opted to return to Eugene for another season.
The Ducks might not be as lucky next offseason if Moore has a good season or even brings home a championship. Moore appears destined to enter a loaded 2027 draft class with some heavy competition at quarterback. NFL analyst Todd McShay speculated on 'The McShay Show' that the 2027 crop of quarterbacks could be the best group the NFL Draft has ever seen. So much so, NFL teams are preparing a year ahead of the draft in hopes of securing a top pick.
"Several teams are making moves because of next year's class," McShay said. "If these quarterbacks start dropping in this year's class, it's fine ... If I'm going to spend a resource on a quarterback, it's going to be in 2027. There are too many of those guys."
For McShay, three passers in the class stand out as the best, and that includes Oregon's signal-caller.
"It's Arch Manning, it's Dante Moore and it's Brendan Sorsby. Those are the top three," McShay said.
When viewing the three by their numbers alone, Moore might be the best quarterback of the bunch. In his first season as a starter for the Ducks, Moore threw for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, completeing 71.8% of his passes. Manning, in his first season as the starter at Texas, completed just 61.4% of his passes and threw for 3,163 yards, 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Sorsby, the veteran of the group, threw for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns and just five interceptions last year at Cincinnati, while completing 61.6% of his passes.
Amongst the three of them, only Moore took his team to the College Football Playoff last season. However, each of them will be expected to do the same next season, including Sorsby, who will play his final season at Texas Tech. While McShay noted that several quarterbacks tend to rise during the college football season, he believes this class could set a new record next April in Washington, D.C. at the draft.
"There could be eight first-rounders next year, it's that loaded," McShay said.
The NFL record for quarterbacks taken in the first round is six, which last happened in 2024 with former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix becoming the sixth passer taken at No. 12 overall by the Denver Broncos. In a class with Manning and Sorsby, as well as elite prospects like Ohio State's Julian Sayin, Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss and Notre Dame's CJ Carr, Moore will have to find ways to impress and show why he deserves to be the first one of all of them to come off the board.
Moore should contend to be the top pick next season, and he'll have a supporting cast in Eugene that will give him every opportunity to separate from the pack as a clear-cut franchise leader when the NFL Draft arrives.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dante Moore headlines potentially 'historic' 2027 QB draft class
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The Ducks might not be as lucky next offseason if Moore has a good season or even brings home a championship. Moore appears destined to enter a loaded 2027 draft class with some heavy competition at quarterback. NFL analyst Todd McShay speculated on 'The McShay Show' that the 2027 crop of quarterbacks could be the best group the NFL Draft has ever seen. So much so, NFL teams are preparing a year ahead of the draft in hopes of securing a top pick.
"Several teams are making moves because of next year's class," McShay said. "If these quarterbacks start dropping in this year's class, it's fine ... If I'm going to spend a resource on a quarterback, it's going to be in 2027. There are too many of those guys."
For McShay, three passers in the class stand out as the best, and that includes Oregon's signal-caller.
"It's Arch Manning, it's Dante Moore and it's Brendan Sorsby. Those are the top three," McShay said.
When viewing the three by their numbers alone, Moore might be the best quarterback of the bunch. In his first season as a starter for the Ducks, Moore threw for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, completeing 71.8% of his passes. Manning, in his first season as the starter at Texas, completed just 61.4% of his passes and threw for 3,163 yards, 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Sorsby, the veteran of the group, threw for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns and just five interceptions last year at Cincinnati, while completing 61.6% of his passes.
Amongst the three of them, only Moore took his team to the College Football Playoff last season. However, each of them will be expected to do the same next season, including Sorsby, who will play his final season at Texas Tech. While McShay noted that several quarterbacks tend to rise during the college football season, he believes this class could set a new record next April in Washington, D.C. at the draft.
"There could be eight first-rounders next year, it's that loaded," McShay said.
The NFL record for quarterbacks taken in the first round is six, which last happened in 2024 with former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix becoming the sixth passer taken at No. 12 overall by the Denver Broncos. In a class with Manning and Sorsby, as well as elite prospects like Ohio State's Julian Sayin, Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss and Notre Dame's CJ Carr, Moore will have to find ways to impress and show why he deserves to be the first one of all of them to come off the board.
Moore should contend to be the top pick next season, and he'll have a supporting cast in Eugene that will give him every opportunity to separate from the pack as a clear-cut franchise leader when the NFL Draft arrives.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dante Moore headlines potentially 'historic' 2027 QB draft class
Continue reading...
