Greg McElroy identifies UCLA’s breakout star entering 2023 season

Dante Moore just might be UCLA’s breakout player entering the 2023 season, according to ESPN’s Greg McElroy.

Moore is not the official starting quarterback for the Bruins, but it might not be too long before he’s under center. The true freshman quarterback is a much hyped prospect and could be Chip Kelly’s guy, but not quite yet.

However, McElroy sees the young gun being let loose very soon.

“Right now he’s deep in the quarterback competition with Collin Schlee and Ethan Garbers,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Garbers has been getting most of the first team reps up to this point, but it’s starting to feel like Dante Moore could potentially emerge. This guy was a unanimous five star recruit, pretty much every service said that he was at the top of the quarterback rankings, or at least near the top of the quarterback rankings. And he’s a four year starter in the state of Michigan. 

“Now, full disclosure. I’m not super familiar with prep football in the state of Michigan. I have played with some guys that were from Michigan and spoke highly about their high school experience in the competition they faced, but I don’t know it like the back of my hand.” 

Right now, it’s up to Moore to win the job over the other veteran quarterbacks. But if he does, it could pay off early due to the scouting report surrounding Moore coming into college.

“What I do know is that the recruiting services saw him on a level playing field with every other top flight quarterback in the country, and they said that he was as good as them all,” McElroy said. “And we have seen this offense. Remember, I mean, the guy he’s replacing, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, was a guy that started for multiple years. It started way back early in his career. 

“This is an offense that is a little challenging, but it’s a lot of reads. It’s a lot of run oriented reads, And if Dante Moore can be accurate with the football, he can still provide that versatility with his own skill set, with a big arm, very accurate, also very athletic. Keep an eye out. He’s a major breakout candidate, and if he becomes the player that everyone thinks he’s ultimately going to become this year, UCLA immediately becomes a problem for everybody in the Pac-12.”

As a member of the Class of 2023, Moore was a five-star recruit out of Detroit (Mich.) Martin Luther King, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 2 quarterback in the class and the No. 3 overall prospect in the class.