Can Moore-to-Moore be legendary?

Bo Nix to Tony Franklin. Jeremiah Masoli to Jeff Maehl. Joey Harrington to Samie Parker.

There have been many other great Oregon passing combinations, even involving these players. Maehl had success pulling down passes from Darron Thomas. Harrington threw clutch completions to Keenan Howry and Marshaun Tucker. Nix made big plays to Tez Johnson and Terrance Ferguson.

Yet there's a special magic in the home run ball to a big-play receiver, the guy who gets open and creates the juice for his team with an explosive touchdown. Franklin, Maehl and Parker are three of the best.

Minus Tez, Traeshon Holden, Ferguson and Evan Stewart, the Ducks need Moore to fit that mold in 2025.

He could. He's explosive, wondrous even, a magician in the open field. As a high school player in 6A Texas he made jaw-dropping plays and brought crowds to their feet, and in the All-American Game and Polynesian Bowl he did it again.

Moore struck for 18 touchdowns as a high school senior. He electrified fans at the All-American game with an 83-yard return for a touchdown.

At the Polynesian Bowl he made this "are you kidding me?" play against two elite defenders, snaring the ball one-handed and juking both for the end zone. The play was utterly nuts.

His high school highlights reveal similar explosiveness, unique even among top competition.

Asked for an update, receiver coach Ross Douglas told the Oregon media, "I just think the want-to and the desire to be a good football player, I think it's there. He's gotten better as training camp goes, and ever since he's been on campus. He's just again, a great kid, very curious, wants to be good, practices hard, and is very competitive. He's going to be a very, very good player for Oregon, and hopefully, he contributes a lot this year."

While the Ducks have many options at receiver it would elevate the offense tremendously if the passing combination of Moore-to-Moore turns out to be special, something that forces the defense to bracket him and rotate the coverage his way, opening up things for Kenyon Sadiq, Malik Benson and the rest.

If Noah Whittington and Makhi Hughes provide a consistent threat in the running game the RPO plays create even more stress for the defense, an attack that pushes the ball downfield or punishes the front seven with power.

Last December at the Rose Bowl, writers asked Dante Moore what he had learned from Dillon Gabriel.

Moore said, “He told me at the end of the day you don’t want to compare yourself to nobody else. You just want to play who you are.”

“That really hit me. When he leaves and my chance comes, the biggest thing for me is just to play my style of football.”

That applies to both players. Dakorien needn't be compared to Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams, or even Johnson, Franklin, Maehl and Parker. Dante doesn't need to be Gabriel, Nix or any of Oregon's great quarterbacks of the past. They need to write a story of their own.

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