Oregon Ducks' Dakorien Moore 'A Freak,' Per Quarterback Austin Novosad

Dakorien Moore is one of the highest-rated recruits to commit to Oregon, regardless of position. As a high school prospect, Moore was ranked as the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation, and the No. 4 overall player in the class of 2026, according to 247Sports' Composite Rankings.

Ducks receivers coach Ross Douglas was hired by Oregon coach Dan Lanning this offseason. Despite only seeing Moore practice a few times, Douglas has already spotted the talent that the true freshman receiver has.

"What sticks out to me is (Moore's) a young ascending player who's very, very talented, and he wants to be great," Douglas said. "So the want to and desire for him to be a good player is there. Now, he's a young player. He just has to get reps, so he has to adjust the speed of the game."

Lanning also praised Moore for his leadership, despite being in his first few months with the program. The Ducks coach has established a culture at Oregon that puts the best players on the field, no matter their age. Lanning spoke about Moore's maturity earlier in the spring:

 “You don't have to be a senior to be a leader, right? You don't have to have experience to be a leader, right? But you have to be willing to put yourself out there, and Dakorien, as well as several other players on our team, are taking that lead, right? They're stepping up and taking advantage of opportunities to lead," said Lanning.

The amount of playing time that Moore will see as a freshman is unclear. In addition, Ducks fans are unsure which quarterback will be throwing him the ball. While many presume Dante Moore to be the starter, Novosad has been in the program for three years and has been able to learn from previous Ducks quarterbacks like Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel.

"Seeing Dillon (Gabriel) and Bo (Nix), both were completely different quarterbacks, but I think one thing that was super similar was just their preparation, and that's one thing that I really learned from both of them," said Novosad. "Throughout the two years, they both prepared the same, and you felt super confident going into the game with them. They knew exactly what we were going to get, and they executed at a really high level, and you could see that both years."

Dante Moore has only been at Oregon for one season as both he and Novosad backed up Gabriel. While there is an offseason competition between the two quarterbacks, Novosad talked about the environment that offensive coordinator Will Stein has created at practice. Novosad was asked about the temperature of the competition, and the Ducks quarterback spoke about how he tries to focus on himself.

"We do a pretty good job of just going out there, (Stein) harps on it a bunch. But, executing the offense. Everyone has different plays. Run your play to the best of your ability, and that's what he's really looking for other than if this guy throws a big play, then I need to throw one. So, I think we do a good job of that."