Oregon quarterbacks are having a bit of a moment.
Duck QBs have been Heisman finalists in 2023 (Bo Nix) and 2024 (Dillon Gabriel). Nix is in his second year starting for the Broncos — who just knocked off previously unbeaten Philadelphia on Sunday — while Gabriel made his NFL starting debut on Sunday for Cleveland and almost led the Browns to a victory.
The only Oregon Duck to hoist the Heisman was 2014 winner Marcus Mariota and he is currently in his 11th season in the NFL.
And while the Chargers’ Justin Herbert wasn’t a Heisman finalist while at Oregon, he’s one of the NFL’s premier passers who has started each season since being drafted sixth overall in 2020.
These four Duck QBs are the program’s last four 3,000-yard passers.
The latest incarnation of a Duck starting signal caller, Dante Moore, could join that prestigious group as a 3,000-yard passer this season — and potentially make his way to New York.
Oregon had a bye this week, so the first-year starting QB was resting, just not on his laurels.
When he gets back in action this week, it will be in leading No. 3 Oregon into battle against No. 7 Indiana in a contest of Big Ten undefeateds, not to mention top Heisman candidates in Moore and Hoosier QB Fernando Mendoza.
Moore is second on Robert Griffin III’s latest Heisman Top 10, behind only Ohio State QB Justin Sayin. Moore’s 14 TDs (against just one interception), 74.6% completion percentage and 183.47 QB rating are all among the top 6 nationally.
Mendoza and Indiana were also off this week. Mendoza is second nationally in QB rating (197.77) and is third nationally in TDs (16).
As for fellow Big Ten QB Sayin, the sophomore is putting up similarly gaudy numbers, completing 101-of-126 passes for 1,313 yards and 13 TDs. He is third nationally in QB rating (196.99) and first in completion percentage (80.2). Sayin, who has led Ohio State to wins over Texas, Washington and Minnesota in its 5-0 start, will lead the Buckeyes against upstart No. 17 Illinois on Saturday.
Completing RGIII’s top 5 are Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy and Mississippi QB Trinidad Chambliss, both of whom were also on byes this week. Rounding out the top 10 were five QBs, Miami’s Carson Beck, Alabama’s Ty Simpson, Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar, Baylor’s Sawyer Roberton and TCU’s Josh Hoover.
Simpson threw for 340 yards and two scores in the No. 10 Tide’s 30-14 win over No. 16 Vanderbilt to move to 4-1 while the Commodores’ Diego Pavia, who has been on many Heisman top 10s, passed for 198 yards and ran for 58.
Beck also boasted a top 25 win this week, leading No. 3 Miami to a 28-22 win over No. 18 Florida State, passing for four scores and 241 yards.
Robertson, who leads the country in passing yards per game (343.0), threw for 345 and two scores in moving Baylor to 4-2 with a 35-34 win over Kansas State.
Hoover passed for 275 yards and four TDs and ran for another while leading the Horned Frogs to a 35-21 win over Colorado. Hoover is tied for fourth nationally with 15 TD passes and is sixth in passing yards per game (303.4).
Sports Illustrated released its latest top five Heisman rankings and had Moore atop the list. Beck was second, Simpson third, Mendoza fourth and Ohio State wideout Jeremiah Smith in fifth. Smith has seven TDs in five games, including two TD receptions this weekend against the Gophers.
The staff at On3 released its latest staff pollof Heisman favorites, which had Simpson and Moore tied atop their 10-player list.
On Simpson, they said: “Simpson was once again electric against Vanderbilt, surpassing the 300-yard mark for the second time this season. While he did throw his first interception of the season, he was the major reason Alabama had no real issues with Vanderbilt on the weekend.”
As for Moore, coming off a bye, they wrote: “Moore is clearly one of the best in the country and leads the Heisman Trophy race. Oregon is one of the teams to beat nationally and will continue to be so as long as Moore’s playing as well as he is.”
Chambliss, Hardy and Mateer — who just missed his first game with a hand injury and will miss at least one more — were listed third through fifth.
On Hardy: “Hardy has been a monster so far, though, leading the running back field. He has run for at least 100 yards in every contest, tallying 730 yards and nine touchdowns in just five games worth of action to date.”
Two names we haven’t touched on were in the poll, including Miami defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. and Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby.
Checking on The Athletic’s staff straw poll, we see Moore and Mendoza at first and second while Bain Jr. is third. The Hurricane defender isn’t cracking any major statistical charts with 26 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and an interception, but he is leading one of the top defenses in the country.
In fact, Pro Football Focus wrote a story last week titled: “Why Rueben Bain Jr. should be the Heisman favorite through four weeks.”
Among PFF’s argument for Bain, it said: “First, he’s been an incredibly dominant player. The junior’s 95.8 PFF grade isn’t just the best of all edge rushers in the country; it’s the best overall grade by any player, regardless of position. Bain has yet to grade below a 90.0 at any point this season, despite facing some strong offensive lines like Florida and Notre Dame. He’s the only edge defender in America with 90.0-plus grades both as a run defender and as a pass-rusher, and his 29.7% pass-rush win rate is the fourth-best in that same group. “
Showing how disparate varying opinions are, Ohio State’s Sayin was listed 15th on the On3 poll and did not appear on The Athletic’s poll, but is tabbed a top 3 pick by other media outlets.
Let’s finish with a note of patience from ESPN veteran broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit, who sees no Heisman favorite and is no hurry to anoint one.
Said Herbstreit: “At this point, you win a Heisman when you play great in big games that everybody’s talking about. And I just don’t know if we’ve had those moments.”