Urban Meyer has solid vision for Dante Moore's NFL future

Dante Moore may come back and play in 2026 for the Oregon Ducks. That's absolutely still possible.

With that said, the quarterback is coming off a tremendous 2025 campaign that saw him lead the Ducks to the Peach Bowl, which was acting as one of the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Moore hasn't declared for the NFL yet, and he does have another season of eligibility remaining, but Oregon picking up former Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola would suggest that Dan Lanning and the Ducks are planning on Moore leaving Eugene this offseason.

If he does declare, chances are he'll be a Top 10 pick. Moore is the No. 2 player on NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s latest Big Board, after all.

He could easily wind up with the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets and start his NFL career right away as a rookie. It's worth noting that Urban Meyer, the legendary college football head coach, sees a different path forward for the Oregon star, though.

If Moore goes to the NFL and let's say Meyer was advising the team that picks him up ... he believes it would be wise to let the young quarterback sit for a bit before throwing him to the wolves.

“So many things can happen to you, man,” Meyer said on a recent episode of "The Triple Option" Podcast (h/t On3). “I just hope if he goes somewhere, he can go sit and learn for a year. I hate that when they throw the rookie quarterback in there and you just wish you had some veteran ahead of him. Jordan Love learned from Aaron Rodgers, and Aaron Rodgers learned from Brett Favre. That was the perfect way for a quarterback to have success.”

Urban Meyer thinks Dante Moore should sit for a whole season in the NFL 

Despite their recent playoff flameout against the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers are a good model for teams like the Raiders and Jets to look at when it comes to the quarterback position.

Aaron Rodgers sat for three years behind Brett Favre, and he was so much better off for it. The same can be said for Jordan Love, who was also a backup for the first three years of his career.

The Packers aren't perfect, but they have a track record of producing quarterbacks, and that track record suggests that throwing a young quarterback into the fire before he's ready is really not great for their production.

It doesn't matter how good a quarterback like Moore is in college. The NFL is a different beast, and it takes time to adjust.

Of course, an organization like the Jets is picking high once again because it has not shown this type of patience in the past, but perhaps this time around will be different.

That's, of course, assuming Moore declares and assuming he goes No. 2 overall and the Jets take him.

A lot can happen between now and the 2026 NFL Draft, though, and that's why we tune in. For all but a handful of NFL teams, the excitement of NFL Mock Draft season is just beginning.