Why former 5-star QB Dante Moore instantly becomes the most interesting name to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal

The transfer portal is on fire, and technically, it doesn’t even officially open until Monday.  A litany of high-profile players have already either submitted their names to the portal or indicated plans to do so, many of whom are quarterbacks. 

But Thursday’s news that former 5-star Dante Moore is set leave UCLA after his freshman season to become a free agent certainly caught the attention of the entire college football world. There may be better quarterbacks in the transfer portal (Hello, Riley Leonard or Will Howard). There are definitely more accomplished quarterbacks (DJ Uiagalelei, KJ Jefferson and Will Rogers, among others).

But Dante Moore instantly becomes the most interesting quarterback available in the 2024 early transfer window cycle. 

Who is Dante Moore?

Dante Moore was a consensus 5-star recruit and the No. 3 overall player in the 2023 class, per the On3 Industry Rankings. He was UCLA’s highest-rated signee ever. It was almost exactly a year ago that Chip Kelly pulled off the major recruiting coup by flipping Moore from Oregon. 

Only it wasn’t the rosiest rookie season for the blue-chip prospect in Westwood. Moore was in a five-way battle for the Bruins’ starting quarterback job during spring practice, and Kelly seemingly mismanaged the situation by not eying for the future and force-feeding the Detroit native reps.

Moore didn’t win the starting job in fall camp, but he did play extensively in UCLA’s opener. He then started Week 2 against San Diego State, delivering his best performance all season in a three-touchdown, zero-interception game with a career-high 290 yards. 

But the rest of Moore’s remaining four starts did not go nearly as well. He struggled with accuracy and turnovers, throwing multiple pick-sixes. Moore wasn’t pushing the ball downfield (just 7.6 yards per attempt) and lost confidence with each week. 

He finished his freshman year with 1,610 yards on just 53% passing, with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. 

Those numbers hardly scream, “Elite,” but Moore was a freshman playing behind an iffy pass-protecting OL, and the same tools that had our very own Charles Power comp him to a bigger Tua Tagovailoa were present at times. 

The upside here is tremendous. There’s always going to be some bust potential for any 5-star recruit, but a 6-2, 202-pounder with a quick, snappy release and a couple of state championships to his name could change a program under the right tutelage. 

Early reports have Moore possibly linked to Michigan State, where he’d be developed by new Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith. 

That would be a home run pairing. 

UCLA whiffed badly here not prioritizing developing Moore before entering the Big Ten. If he ends up playing against the Bruins in the future that’s an even worse outcome. 

Why Moore is so intriguing on the open market

It remains too early to draw sweeping conclusions about the transfer portal after just a few cycles, but so far, the results and data do suggest that simply adding a transfer quarterback to your roster isn’t likely change the fortunes for most teams. 

It could (see: Joe Burrow at LSU or Bo Nix at Oregon), but the majority of the QBs switching schools are one-and-done options that effectively pass the baton from one QB to the next (see: Sam Hartman at Notre Dame this season. Good, but not some earth-shattering needle mover). 

Thus far, the best portal QBs have been ones that stay at a school for multiple seasons and develop into stars. Again, Burrow and Nix are two of the biggest success stories, but Caleb Williams, Michael Penix Jr., Jayden Daniels and Spencer Rattler all qualify here, too. Hendon Hooker had two great seasons at Tennessee. Will Levis parlayed a two-year stay at Kentucky into a Day 2 NFL Draft pick. 

Dante Moore could have as bright a future as many of those quarterbacks. Whoever gets their hands on him — be it Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, USC or whoever — could have him in their system for as many as three seasons. Considering his raw talent and the sport’s current constant QB carousel, that’s massive. 

There will be many more accomplished players to enter the portal in the coming days, but unless the likes of Arch Manning or Jackson Arnold surprisingly hopped in, there won’t be a more interesting player to become a free agent in 2024 than Dante Moore.