One of the biggest weak spots for the Oregon Ducks over the past couple of decades has been the ability to recruit and develop quarterbacks in the system.
In the past decade, the Ducks have only had three quarterbacks start for them who didn’t come from the transfer portal — Tyler Shough, Justin Herbert, and Marcus Mariota — and one of them ended up leaving through the transfer portal after a single season. Even this year, a transfer portal player, Bo Nix, is in the running to win the starting job over Ty Thompson, a player who was recruited and developed in the system.
So it’s safe to say that QB recruitment and development has been a weakness for the Ducks over the years. That may be changing though.
According to ESPN, Oregon is among the college teams this offseason who has recruited at the QB position the best of anyone. Of course, landing a commitment from 5-star Dante Moore will certainly help. Here is what ESPN had to say:
The Ducks’ new staff got a commitment from five-star Dante Moore, ranked No. 8 overall and the No. 3 quarterback in the class. Moore, out of Detroit, grew up a Michigan fan and ultimately spurned Notre Dame for Oregon.
Offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham secured Moore’s commitment and now has one of the top quarterbacks in the country ready to join the roster. The staff lost starter Anthony Brown to graduation but brought in Bo Nix from Auburn. Dillingham coached Nix his freshman season, but he doesn’t have much eligibility left. The staff still has Ty Thompson and Jay Butterfield, both former ESPN 300 quarterbacks, but adding Moore, who threw for 3,047 yards and 40 touchdowns with only three interceptions last season, is going to up the level of competition in the quarterback room.
Will Kenny Dillingham be the coach to come in and step the level of development in Oregon’s QB room up a notch? That’s yet to be seen, but the fact that the Ducks were able to land their highest-rated QB in school history just a few months after the new staff got settle in is certainly encouraging.
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