All eyes will be on Dante Moore, but the Oregon Ducks have a new look position group that has a chance to have them soaring high in 2025

It’s natural for there to be a lot of hype around a new starting quarterback, especially one that was considered a five-star recruit coming out of high school. Dante Moore went through a roller coaster of a freshman season for UCLA in 2023, eventually deciding to transfer to Oregon. Moore was humbled a bit in 2024, reprogrammed, and is now set to become the starting quarterback this fall for the Ducks.

While all the eyes will be on Moore, the team has quietly done a nice job retooling the pass catchers around him. This team lost a couple of very talented wide receivers in Tez Johnson and Traeshon Holden to the 2025 NFL Draft. They also lost tight end Terrance Ferguson, who was a valuable member of the program for several years. Between those three, they hauled in 171 receptions for 2,207 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Despite those defections, the Ducks staff has done a tremendous job of finding answers for those losses this offseason. Oregon was able to retain wide receiver Evan Stewart who made 48 receptions for 613 yards and five touchdowns, a player many thought would test the NFL waters. While Ferguson is a big loss, the Ducks do have Kenyon Sadiq ready to slide into that void, and you already saw some flashes of his talent last season. He is a very impressive athlete at the tight end position.

You could also make an argument that this Oregon team has somehow managed to make this wide receiver unit even deeper than a year ago, which is saying something. They added Malik Benson through the transfer portal, as well as brought in a couple of very talented freshmen in five-star Dakorien Moore and Cooper Perry. Add in retaining players like Gary Bryant Jr., Justius Lowe, and Jeremiah McClellan, and that is a pretty deep room.

Moore will be the trigger man everyone will hyperfocus on, but the Ducks have quietly done a really nice job of surrounding him with talent. Everything will not be solely on his shoulders. If you watched Moore with the Bruins, you know that way too much was put on him. He crumbled a bit under that pressure.

That reset could prove huge for him. Moore waited his turn, and now heads into the 2025 season with a lot of support around him. Expect him to put together a tremendous season, and once again keep the Ducks in the National Championship conversation.