Some late thoughts on Mendoza versus Moore … One of the first rules we operate by in this draft business is never put too much weight on one individual game. So we’re not going to go overboard over-analyzing Saturday’s big game between Indiana and Oregon that featured arguably the top two QBs prospects for the 2026 draft in Fernando Mendoza of the Hoosiers and the Ducks Dante Moore. And while Indiana handed Oregon its first home loss in almost three years, the consensus among draft analysts appears to be that the QB duel at best was a no-decision as both guys were solid enough, but neither delivering a true knockout blow. Certainly neither guy put on the kind of ‘pick me!, pick me!’ with the #1 pick overall performance, but it also did seem that at least on sober reflection that Mendoza was at least the more efficient on the day. The Hoosiers’ star completed 20 of 31 passes for 215 yards and a TD and while he had a pick returned for a TD that tied the score late in the game, he immediately rebounded leading IU on a 12-play, 75-yards scoring drive. Moore, on the other hand though, clearly had his worst performance of the season as he completed 21 of 34 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and two fourth-quarter interceptions, both of which came with the Ducks trying to rally to a game-tying score. Moore was also sacked 6 times after taking just one sack through the season’s first five games as he was under pressure pretty much from the get-go.

Interesting, though, that the buzz around the league still seems to be that given a choice between the two, the majority of teams would take Moore over Mendoza as he’s a little quicker, has a more compact delivery with just as much accuracy and arm strength. Of course, as we noted last week, Moore has already made it be known that he is no hurry at all to leave Oregon where he will still have a couple of years of eligibility after this season. We mused at the time, that the one scenario in which Moore might change his mind would be if the Ducks went on to win the national championship. However, the loss to Indiana made that goal just a little bit harder for the Ducks.