We are early in the 2025 season, and there is a lot of football yet to be played. In addition to the (always too early) top team rankings, we have the (also too early) Heisman rankings. As was the case in the past couple of seasons, Oregon has a quarterback contender early in the season – Dante Moore.
How does Moore stack up against others in the 2025 season thus far? We’ll look at some basic stats after three games of this season. The top five are all quarterbacks: Carson Beck, John Mater, Gunner
Stockton, Dante Moore, and Marcel Reed. It remains to be seen if any candidates other than quarterbacks emerge to vie for a trip to New York City. Also, for now, I am only listing passing statistics and not rushing statistics. Quarterback rushing stats are not yet a factor where Heisman consideration is concerned, but that may change as the season plays out.
Here are the top five contenders after week three, and all are quarterbacks.
Carson Beck (Miami) +800
65-82 for 812 yds., 79.3% completion rate, 7 TD, 2 INT
John Mateer (Oklahoma) +900
71-105 for 944 yds., 63.32% completion rate, 5 TD, 3 INT
Gunner Stockton (Georgia) +1100
63-89 721 yds., 69.67% completion rate, 4 TD, 3 INT
Dante Moore +1300
56-76 for 657 yds., 73.68% completion rate, 7 TD, 1 INT
Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) +1600
58-99 for 869 yds., 59.5% completion rate, 9 TD, 1 INT
Dante Moore’s statistics are favorable as compared to the other top contenders in this list. It’s very early in the season, and a more definitive pecking order will arise as these, and potentially other favorites, rise and fall based on their performances against better competition.
Let us not forget that in the past two seasons, Oregon quarterbacks traveled to NYC for the Heisman ceremony. How does Moore compare to the first three games of Bo Nix’s 2023 season and Dillon Gabriel’s 2024 season?
Bo Nix – 2023
76-98 for 893 yds.,78.57% completion rate, 8 TD, 0 INT
Dillon Gabriel – 2024
79-94 for 914 yds., 84.32% completion rate, 6 TD, 0 INT
Dante Moore compares favorably with Nix and Gabriel after three games. Notice that he has thrown fewer passes for fewer total yards than his predecessors. This is because Nix and Gabriel were left in the game longer in the first three games than Moore. This season, backups have seen significant third and fourth quarter action, and that was not the case in 2023 and 2024. Especially if Dante Moore stays on a hot streak and is solidly in the race later in the season, it will be worth another look and comparison to see how he stacks up against future favorites, as well as Nix and Gabriel.
