Oregon Ducks QB1 Dante Moore is getting himself on the NFL Draft radar, by putting up some big numbers so far this season. He led his team to a conference season opening 34-14 win at Northwestern on Saturday, in a game where he was not as statistically impressive as in the first two, but effective and efficient nonetheless. Moore spent last season learning from Dillon Gabriel, serving as his backup.
Now Gabriel is the QB2 in Cleveland, and he saw his first NFL action yesterday, throwing a TD pass towards the tail end of a blowout loss at the Baltimore Ravens
At Northwestern Medicine Field in Evanston, Moore discussed what he learned from Gabriel in 2024.
“The biggest thing he taught me was preparation,” Moore said about Gabriel’s tutelage.
“The way he prepped Monday through Friday and how on Saturday, he went out there and got the job done. Another thing I learned from him is you just got to enjoy this process.
“The dream of course, is going three years of college and to the BFL and he was for sure in college longer than that.”
“When he came to Oregon, he traveled from UCF to Oklahoma, (and then) Oklahoma to Oregon. It’s a long process, especially being from the (Hawaiian) islands a long way from home. And he was in the facility, every day early in the morning until late at night and you just got to enjoy the process and be thankful for it.
“And seeing him smiling everyday, when the days got tough kind of just brought me the juice and the energy to keep flowing and make sure I push my teammates to the best that they can do.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter