“Coach Lanning knows how to judge people, and he is a good judge of character.” This is what Dakorien Moore said about Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning in May, last year. He chose to stand by his words. In July, he committed to Lanning’s squad. It came with a sweet promise: “Oregon family, let’s build something special! Recruitment officially closed.” Turns out that Dakorien did not just talk big; he is walking big too.  

The freshman wide receiver did turn heads as he shone early in the spring practice. That did impress the national analyst, who pointed out what Dakorien will bring to Lanning’s table this season. While everything falls into place for the WR, another Moore, that is, their quarterback Dante Moore, is in deep threat after the head coach’s press conference. 

Dakorien Moore, the new star in Eugene

Dakorien stuck to his guns, committing to Oregon way back in July and never wavering, even after a trip to LSU. That kind of loyalty has folks already buzzing about what the 5-foot-11, 186-pound freshman can do. Moore is the second-highest-rated commit in Oregon program history and the highest-rated wide receiver to sign in Eugene by a wide margin. Now, what makes the 18-year-old stand out in the squad? His ball skills. The tapes offer proof for clarity. 

Earlier this year, in the Polynesian Bowl, Dakorien went viral with his insane one-handed catch that went for a 75-yard touchdown in the all-star game. His high school stats also promise a bright future for him. He completed his high school career with 204 catches for 4,113 yards and 48 TDs. Now, how could analyst J.D. PicKell not see this? On the April 12th episode of the On3 podcast, PicKell sounded super confident that Dakorien is already looking like the next big thing in Eugene. “Bottom line: If this is what Dakorien Moore is going to be for Oregon, if we get more of that from him in the fall and he ends up being a guy that’s right away ready to rock and roll, that’s huge for Oregon, dude.” Now, what made him think so?

The first reason is Lanning lost his star receiver, Tez Johnson, to the NFL. After all, his contribution to the Ducks has been immense. He became Oregon’s second-leading receiver, leading them to the 2023 Pac-12 Conference Championship game. In his two years in Lanning’s squad, he racked up 2080 yards and 20 touchdowns. The second reason behind Oregon’s pressing need for Dakorien?

“Evan Stewart is going to be able to shift back to his most natural position in the slot.” With Evan Stewart and Dakorien in their forte, it will be easier for Lanning’s quarterback, Dante, to deliver with consistency. Meanwhile, we must remember that Oregon was able to beat Texas and LSU to land Dakorien for a reason. “Dakorien Moore isn’t like just down the street hanging out in Portland. He’s a dude from Texas. He had to go into the Lone Star State and, with his commitment over schools like Texas, like LSU, that’s a big time win for Oregon football.”

Lanning’s program ranks at the top in producing some elite receivers. You name them—Tez Johnson, Troy Franklin. In that case, Dakorien, with his talent, comes as the perfect piece to Oregon’s upper-echelon wide receiver puzzle. As PicKell highlighted, “Oregon is, slowly but surely becoming a wide receiver destination because you’re going to get targets, put up good numbers, win a lot of games, have good stats. It checks a lot of boxes.” While it’s all praise for Dakorien, Dante is left in the dark as Lanning praise-bombed the other quarterback, Austin Novosad.

Signs point to Dan Lanning’s quarterback favoritism

Well, Oregon failed to mark themselves safe from the big quarterback dilemma that is plaguing college football. The pressure is even greater for them. Thanks to their former quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, who gifted the Ducks some priceless moments. One of them was when he notched his 62nd start, blowing past former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix’s record of 61 career starts. Right now, both Dante and Novosad are vying for the QB1 spot to fill Gabriel’s shoes. And it turns out that Lanning has picked his favorite. 

Even though he has yet to pull the cat out of the bag, he has dropped enough hints. The freshman quarterback, Novosad, got his first action of the 2024 season during the Ducks’ game against UCLA. He did get to savor some limelight as he checked into the final drive of the Ducks’ 34-13 win over UCLA before second-stringer Moore. With this, he has already found himself in Lanning’s good books.

On April 8, the Oregon HC faced the media and could not just stop obsessing over his freshman quarterback. “I think the guy’s just a winner. I mean, he has become really comfortable in our system. He understands it, you know. And I think that Coach Stein and the offensive staff do a good job of continuing to push that, but he’s just really level-headed.” So what if Austin Novosad did not see much of his gridiron play? He was lucky enough to learn under the best, Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix. All signs suggest that Dan Lanning is ready to trust his young guns to lead the charge for the Ducks in 2025.