This was the exact concern national media pundits had with Dante Moore going back to Oregon. Moore had already reached the apex of his collegiate career after the 2025 season and was a foregone conclusion to being one of the first quarterbacks taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, if not the first one. Instead, he went back to school with the hopes of winning a national championship – only to struggle against Boise State in Week 1 and lose to Oklahoma State in Week 2.
That’s the harsh reality of Moore returning to college. Winning a national championship could come at the expense of his NFL Draft stock. Through his first two games, it’s clear, it wasn’t worth it.
Oklahoma State had Moore in fits all game. While he did make some good throws and keep Oregon in the game, these are the types of games NFL scouts look to when evaluating. Moore didn’t pass the test. Losing to a team that hadn’t beat an FBS team since 2024 isn’t a good look. Losing and throwing for less than 200 yards and less than 50 percent completion is even worse.
What Oklahoma State loss means for Dante Moore’s NFL Draft stock?
Ahead of Week 2 in the college football season, Pete Thamel ran a poll that included 25 NFL scouts and executives to determine who the top quarterback was in the 2027 NFL Draft. Moore was the runaway winner, receiving 14 votes. Arch Manning was second. Depending on how Manning looks against Ohio State in the matinee of the night, those same scouts could be changing their mind. That’s how volatile scouts are when it comes to talent evaluation.
That’s not to say that Moore isn’t talented, but maybe he’s not the top quarterback prospect like people thought he was. Look at Drew Mestemaker. His NFL Draft stock dropped after Oklahoma State’s dud against Tulsa. The following week, he looked like a better quarterback than Moore, who is a projected top five pick.
The loss to Oklahoma State doesn’t just damper Moore's championship aspirations, it proves the risk of coming back to college. What makes his decision worse is the fact that this is largely considered one of the deepest quarterback classes. It doesn’t take much to change your draft stock.
A deep 2027 quarterback draft class could hinder Dante Moore’s draft stock
In one game, Moore could go from the clear QB1 of this draft to another name in the mix of a deep class. That's what was so mind-boggling about his decision to go back to school and what was so alarming about holding his NFL career off for a year. It won’t take much for teams and NFL scouts to look at this class and find a better option than what they expected. It’s also not irrational for scouts to turn to a different quarterback that was a late-season riser.
Dante Moore is going to end up being the perfect example of why you ALWAYS declare for the draft when you’re guaranteed to be a top 2 pick
— RBT (@SamuelBrownRBT) September 12, 2026
The difference in the #2 pick and #5 pick is 7 million dollars
And w/ this draft class he could be drafted quite a bit lower
Idc if it…
Moore didn’t just potentially pass up on a nice rookie pay scale by coming back to school, but he potentially passed up on the chance to be a team’s first choice. Mestemaker proved in one week that he’s still one of the top quarterbacks in this upcoming class. The question is: Who’s next? Moore will be constantly feeling the pressure of playing at a high level each week because all it takes is one bad game to plummet your draft stock.
We’re two weeks into the season and Moore has already had two questionable performances. The loss to Oklahoma State will be sobering for Oregon. It will be a reminder to Moore of the risk he took coming back to school. Yeah, a national championship is worth it. But it’s not a guarantee. With this deep class, it’s not a guarantee he’s one of the first quarterbacks taking in the upcoming draft either.
Add us as a preferred source on Google