about two years First, there was very little time to play between 7-4 on Saturday night in Pasadena. UCLA Team and a 5-6 period Team, dante moore And Fernando Mendoza The last regular season game faced off was in the Rose Bowl.
Moore was coming off a roller-coaster freshman season with the Bruins, during which he went from the starting job to losing it and then regaining it. It was his sixth start of the year. Mendoza, meanwhile, began his freshman campaign as the third-line quarterback before taking over the program for the Golden Bears in the last seven games of the season.
Although their journeys up to that point were not identical, both quarterbacks were thrown into the cauldron as rookies and were asked to immediately build experience while helping their teams win games. The game, which Cal won 33–7 and Mendoza and Moore both threw two interceptions, was a reminder that they were far from finished products.
Two seasons later, they would face off again – this time with Mendoza leading the way. Indiana And Moore is leading oregon An undefeated record, a top-10 ranking and a clear path to the College Football Playoff. In the process, both have also become NFL Draft darlings, unexpected emergences inside a quarterback draft class that has looked disjointed at best so far.
An NFL personnel executive said, “That’s why Mendoza, to me, has gotten the most excitement.”
Another NFL executive said his quarterback rankings have Moore, not Mendoza, in the top three.
An under-the-radar three-star and a forgotten five-star, Mendoza and Moore have both shown glimpses of high-level qualities that could make them not only attractive NFL prospects in the future, but also the perfect players to lead their teams in this moment.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning declared after the Ducks’ victory, “I think we’ve got the best quarterback in college football.” penn state,
“Mendoza is one of those guys that I think is going to play on Sunday,” Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said earlier this year. “He throws something, you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ …I think his downfield vision, his progression that he makes when he’s in the pocket, is absolutely incredible.”
were there also Many signs pointing in the same direction for Mendoza. He had already graduated from Cal and was set to enter his third season under a different offensive coordinator, whom he said did not exactly match up with his priorities.
“I wanted to be in a system that I think will translate really well to the next level,” Mendoza told ESPN in an interview before the season.
Sure, the NFL was a childhood dream, but he never thought it was true until the conversation started last offseason. During his high school recruiting process, Miami’s Mendoza only received offers from Cal, FIU, Yale and Penn.
“It all just went from ‘Hey, I want to go DI’ to ‘I want to start a game.’ From ‘I want to win a game’ to ‘I want to be a full-time starter,'” Mendoza said. “It kind of snowballed and then earlier this year, talking to some people, reading some things like, ‘Wow is this actually true? Could this be possible?'”
Mendoza’s improvement has been mostly linear, but the breakout came last season when he threw for 3,004 yards on a 68.7% completion rate with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. Through five games this year, Mendoza has thrown for 1,208 yards on a 73% completion rate (top 10 in the country), while tying his 16 touchdowns from last season with only one interception.
“I look at some of my clips from last year’s even fall camp at Cal to this year and I’m a completely different quarterback,” Mendoza said.
The same can be said for Moore. his gap year, when he saw dillon gabriel Excelling in offensive coordinator Will Stein’s system, there aren’t too many clues as to how he’ll perform, but the early returns have been spectacular: 1,210 yards, 14 touchdowns and 1 interception. Like Mendoza, Moore’s completion rate (74.6%) is also among the 10 best in the country.
Nationally, Mendoza (0.55) and Moore (0.50) are No. 3 and 4 in EPA per dropback, trailing only USC‘S jaden maiawa (0.63) and Marshall‘S Carlos del Rio-Wilson (0.56). Both have the two best touchdown passes per attempt rates in the country – Mendoza ranks first with 13.1% while Moore is third with 10.4% – and no other quarterback has a better touchdown-to-interception ratio than them. And what related crimes do they lead? Both are ranked in the top 10 in SP+.
Mendoza credits the smooth transition to coming into an established system, rather than having to build it yourself from scratch. By taking flashcard quizzes and studying the playbook copiously with his teammates, Mendoza has tried to erase any learning curve, and the fact that many of those teammates have been with the program for two, three, even four years, Mendoza said, has helped elevate his own game. In other words, it’s exactly what he envisioned when he got the call to go to Bloomington.
An NFL personnel executive said of Mendoza, “Everyone thinks he’s very talented.” “He’s a big kid, he throws the ball very well. The ball comes out of his hand like a legitimate NFL QB.”
“When he doesn’t have his first lesson, he gets nervous and his efficiency goes away,” the executive said. “But that’s the only negative thing about him as a player. Iowa gave him trouble, took away some underlying things.”
The executive said the possibility of Mendoza being the No. 1 pick “is not off the table.”
The problem is that this particular quarterback class doesn’t have the top-heavy potential that others have had in the past. That’s why, as one NFL executive said, Mendoza and Moore (get along). oklahoma‘S john mater) have been the most surging ones this season.
moore’s path Oregon wasn’t so much unexpected as it was delayed. He committed to the Ducks at one point during his recruitment before changing course and attending UCLA. After a season of both flashes and mistakes from freshmen, Chip Kelly’s move to Ohio State made Moore’s decision easier.
“I knew I was coming to Oregon. There was definitely that connection between me and Coach Lanning,” Moore told ESPN in an interview last offseason. “Everyone’s saying, ‘Bro, you should have been here, no matter what.’ I say, ‘Hey man, everything happens for a reason.’ So I’m here now.”
Eugene’s unconventional move turned out to be the best thing for Moore. When he sat back and watched Gabriel’s success, it was further proof that he had made the right decision.
“It takes a special person, a person who can process like this bo [Nix]like dylan [Gabriel] And like Dante Moore, to keep this thing going at the pace we want to keep it going,” Stein said.
A full year on the bench and offseason workouts in Dallas with NFL stars dak prescott And patrick mahomes Establish Moore as that guy. Through five games he has looked comfortable and in rhythm as part of an attack that is loaded with players but still needs a guide. For Steen, the challenge of getting the most out of any quarterback is part of the fun. Unlike the Knicks or Gabriel, who transferred and were under Steen’s direction for only one season, with Moore, there has been some long-term development that has been mutually beneficial.
“Development for a quarterback to me means going to an offense that has proven to be successful and is able to prepare you to play at the next level,” Steen said. “Can you go and run an NFL-style offense? Can you handle a little longer play call? Can you change protections? Can you change the run? And then can you go out and operate in a hostile environment and do that?”
Although he entered this year as quietly as a former five-star can, the laid-back Moore has quickly turned up the volume with his play. The challenge of handling the Penn State crowd of 111,015 and leading Oregon to an overtime win in that atmosphere felt like passing his first big test. Suddenly, he is one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy.
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said of Moore, “As he’s played more, you can see he’s building on his success, confidence, belief and he’s one of the great quarterbacks in the country.” “It doesn’t have any message.”
While Cignetti was quick to praise Moore, he has been more reserved with his own quarterback, expressing confidence in Mendoza but always pointing out that he still needs to improve even as Indiana continues to win.
Yet Mendoza claims he is one of “the country’s great quarterbacks.” After all, this season is going exactly as they planned. The move to Indiana wasn’t just about a change of scenery, zero incentives or even the opportunity to be drafted for the NFL.
Mendoza said, “I want to win as many games as possible. At Cal, I had six wins both years. I really wanted to have a season with at least one double-digit win.” “I don’t play football because of outside factors. I really love football. If I was a walk-on with no scholarship I would play football.”
Saturday’s game in Eugene will be far from the final referendum on Mendoza and Moore as potential NFL quarterbacks. But with 16 NFL scouts scheduled to be in attendance at Autzen Stadium, all eyes will be on more than just the result this time.
Jake Trotter contributed to this story.
