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Tuesday Ted Talk: Luke Moga, Dillon Gresham could play vital roles for Ducks

by:Ted Leroux•about 10 hours
Luke Moga
The Oregon Ducks held their 2024 spring football game in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo credit: Darby Winter/ScoopDuckOn3).

It’s human nature to overreact, so naturally Duck fans are anticipating the Luke Moga to Dillon Gresham connection to lead the Green & Yellow to the promised land, right? Maybe it’s not quite time to print the “Magic Moga” or “Dangerous Dillon” T-Shirts quite yet, but what if Saturday’s spring game was a glimpse at 2 players that could play unique roles within the Ducks offense?

Let’s begin with Luke Moga, the forgotten man in the Oregon QB room. Moga certainly looked improved as a passer, completing 6 of his 13 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, but it’s his athleticism that stood out and got my CFB 26 offensive coordinator wheels turning. 

We’ve seen special packages work for mobile quarterbacks in college football before, Tim Tebow during Florida’s 2006 national championship season, JJ McCarthy in Michigan’s 2021 Big Ten Championship campaign, and even last season saw Beau Pribula take key snaps in relief of Drew Allar at Penn State. Why couldn’t Luke Moga provide a change of pace for the Ducks offense? Imagine Moga in a zone read or RPO scenario at the goal line with Makhi Hughes and Da’Jaun Riggs all in the backfield at the same time with the threat to also throw the ball to red zone threats like Kenyon Sadiq or Jamari Johnson. 

This upcoming season, more than any other previous season under Dan Lanning, makes sense for something like this to happen because of the skillsets of the primary quarterbacks battling for the starting job. Dante Moore and Austin Novosad certainly have the ability to get outside the pocket and throw on the run, but they may lack the designed run ability that we’ve seen with the last 2 Duck quarterbacks, Bo Nix & Dillon Gabriel. Dante & Austin could execute a similar speed option concept that Dillon Gabriel took for a touchdown against Oregon State last season, but Luke Moga has the athletic advantage over those 2 to turn it into a touchdown, just like Gabriel did. I know this concept doesn’t seem like something we would see in a Will Stein offense, but this season in so many ways feels different for the Ducks.

Going into the spring game, one of the most intriguing things to watch was which wide receiver would stand out above the rest. Raise your hand if you thought Dillon Gresham would be the star of the show, now put your hand down because nobody predicted that. 

When I rewatched the spring game tape, I saw a “do everything” wide receiver wearing #80. Despite his smaller stature, Gresham won a 1-on-1 fade ball for a big play against one of the best man-to-man corners on the team – Theran Johnson. 

Gresham was able to line up out wide as well as in the slot and use his quickness to get open consistently. Gresham’s role in this offense could very well be a Wes Welker or Julian Edelman type of receiver in the great Patriots offenses – a borderline annoying target that gets overshadowed by bigger names, but always comes up with the play on a key 3rd down late in the game to keep the drive moving. 

Moga and Gresham might not be the biggest names, but they could have opportunities to make the biggest plays for the Ducks this season.

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