Can Dakorien Moore achieve those over-the-moon expectations?

Expectations are enormous for Dakorien Moore, especially after how he flashed in the Oregon Spring Game.

With Evan Stewart battling a long-term injury that threatens to keep him out of action for several weeks and perhaps even all of 2026, there's a huge void in the Oregon offense, and the explosive, elusive Moore has become the first name fans turn to in their quest for a No. 1 receiver.

The internet lists Moore at 5-11, 182, albeit with 10.4 speed. He's a leaper with tremendous body control. As a senior at Duncanville High in Duncanville, Texas, a 6A national powerhouse in Texas prep football, Moore caught 74 passes for 1,460 yards and 19 touchdowns, so he's used to a high volume of work.

At the Polynesian Bowl All-Star Game in January and the Oregon Spring Game in April, Moore showed how dynamic he can be both getting to the ball and after he receives it.

The catch-and-run in Hawaii stands as one of the most astounding athletic plays you'll ever see a receiver make at any level, leaping to snare the ball with one hand in heavy traffic, then juking two all-star defensive backs to the end zone.

It instantly brings to mind a play Alabama's Ryan Williams made in the Georgia game last September.

Williams, spidery and slight, is listed at 6-1, 175. The youngest receiver in college football last year, he caught 48 passes for 865 yards and eight touchdowns. Physically, he's a closer comparison to Moore.

In terms of Moore's potential as a first-year starter in college football, people keep bringing up Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State, but that comp doesn't withstand scrutiny. The superb Buckeyes wideout is 6-3, 215, a blend of power, body control and speed that accounted for 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns in a national championship season.

Moore is much smaller and a bit faster than Smith, and he won't have Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate and Brandon Innes around him as a college football rookie. The Oregon freshman is being asked to be the focal point or one of the focal points of a rebuilding offense.

The other receivers in the room have talent but they're largely unproven. Jeremiah McClellan, Dillon Gresham, Kyler Kasper, Jurrion Dickey and Cooper Perry have blue-chip ability but not much experience. Justius Lowe, Malik Benson and Gary Bryant Jr. have had moments in college football, but no kind of consistent track record as primary targets.

Another problem for Moore to overcome is coaching. Dan Lanning has built a 35-6 record at Oregon but one area where he's been slow to move forward lies in trusting freshmen with a big role in his offense or defense over his first three seasons.

The exception to that has been in edge rushers/linebackers Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti. Moore has analogous talent.

At 182 pounds, can Moore withstand the pounding he might get as a No. 1 target? Establishing himself that way in the early season means he'd draw the best cornerbacks in the conference week in and week out, players like A.J. Harris of Penn State, 6-1, 191, a Georgia Bulldog transfer last season many project as a potential first-round draft pick in 2026.

Moore isn't a big guy, but he's a high school sprint champion with 10.4 speed in the 100 meters. His power is in his lower body and he plays physically. He can win his share of matchups with elite corners.

In the spring, Oregon coaches, players and staff whispered that he was nearly unguardable. And Dante Moore has been working extensively to develop timing and connection with him in offseason workouts.

In 2007 Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree achieved the ultimate in freshman seasons for a wide receiver. As the star of the Red Raider Air Raid he grabbed an incredible 134 passes for 1962 yards and 22 touchdowns.

In Mike Leach's offense he broke eight NCAA records, a two-time Unanimous All-American and two-time Biletnikof Award winner.

Crabtree was supremely gifted, like OSU's Smith a matchup nightmare at 6-1, 215, picked No. 10 in the first round by San Francisco after just two seasons of college football. (He had redshirted in 2006, due to a transcript problem and converting from quarterback to wide receiver.)

His iconic '07 season remains the upper limit of what a freshman wide receiver can accomplish. No sane Oregon fan is asking for that, because the Oregon offense has always been multiple and diversified.

The Ducks don't throw on every down the way The Pirate did. They try to establish a physical running game and stretch the field to a variety of targets. It only makes sense that Makhi Hughes and Kenyon Sadiq remain bell cows in the offense.

Dan Lanning always likes to say, "If you're good enough, you're old enough." Dakorien Moore is good enough. With a need for a No. 1 target at wide receiver, the Ducks have to trust him.

Read More: