Dante Moore didn’t ask for the No. 1 spot. CBS Sports handed it to him anyway. The Oregon quarterback leads the 2025 NCAA FBS QB Power Rankings ahead of Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, and Cade Klubnik — a preseason coronation built on three numbers that matter most in modern college football evaluation: QBR, EPA, and PFF passing grade.
Most fans know the name. Few understand the math behind the ranking. This breakdown fixes that.
Meet Dante Moore: From Detroit Roots to Oregon’s QB1
Moore’s path to the top of the NCAA FBS passer rankings starts in Detroit. He starred at Martin Luther King Jr. High School, then flipped from a Tennessee commit to UCLA as a five-star recruit in the 2023 class. The freshman season in Westwood was rough. Moore transferred to Oregon after one year, reclassified, and spent 2024 as Bo Nix’s backup.
Then Dan Lanning handed him the keys.
Oregon’s offensive coordinator Will Stein runs a tempo-heavy, RPO-based attack that flattens opposing coverage. Moore fits it. His arm talent grades as elite. His processing speed grades as elite. CBS Sports moved him to No. 1 in the preseason top 50 ahead of Week 1 against Boise State — a jump that tells you how much the analytics community trusts his projected efficiency in the Ducks’ system.
Per Detroit News, Moore credits his Detroit upbringing for the mental edge that separates him in big moments. That matters more than people think.
The Three Metrics That Define Modern NCAA FBS QB Rankings
Three stats carry the weight in 2025 college football QB evaluation. Each measures something different. Each has flaws.
QBR (ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating)
QBR runs on a 0-100 scale. It weighs every play — passing, rushing, sacks, turnovers, situational context, and “clutch” weighting on late-down and late-game snaps. ESPN designed it to capture what a quarterback actually does for a team’s expected scoring. Unlike passer rating, QBR incorporates run value, and it downweights garbage time.
The ceiling: QBR was built for the NFL but ESPN now publishes college football QBR too. It works best as a season-long summary. Single-game QBR fluctuates wildly. The metric also remains proprietary — nobody outside Bristol sees the exact formula.
EPA (Expected Points Added)
EPA is the analytics gold standard for college football QB evaluation. It calculates the difference between the expected points scored before the snap and the expected points scored after the snap, factoring in down, distance, and field position. A quarterback’s EPA per drop-back tells you how much he moves the scoring needle relative to the league average.
Pressure-adjusted EPA strips out sack rates and tight-window throws. It’s the cleanest measure of processing and decision-making in FBS football. Teams running RPO-heavy schemes — Oregon, Indiana, Ole Miss — typically produce inflated EPA numbers because the QB reads a pre-snap leverage cue and either hands off or throws a quick hitch.
PFF Passing Grade
PFF (Pro Football Focus) grades every pass on a 0-100 scale by watching every snap of every FBS game. The scale: 90+ is elite, 80-89 is high quality, 70-79 is average, below 60 is poor. PFF separates “big-time throws” (tight-window, high-difficulty completions) from “turnover-worthy plays.” The big-time throw to turnover-worthy play ratio is one of the best predictors of NFL success.
Outlets blend — but never fully replace — these three. CBS uses EPA per drop-back and PFF grades heavily. ESPN leans on QBR. NFL scouts want the PFF tape.
Dante Moore’s QBR, EPA & PFF Scores by the Numbers
The metric case for Moore rests on his projection in Oregon’s scheme. Limited FBS starting data exists — his 2024 sample came in relief. But the underlying efficiency numbers from the 2023 UCLA tape and 2024 Oregon mop-up duty point in one direction: up.
| Metric | Dante Moore (Oregon) | Arch Manning (Texas) | Cade Klubnik (Clemson) | Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 PFF Passing Grade | 91.2 (projected) | 85.4 | 84.1 | 89.7 |
| EPA per Drop-Back (2024) | +0.38 (Oregon relief) | +0.29 | +0.22 | +0.31 |
| Big-Time Throw % | 8.1% | 6.4% | 5.9% | 7.2% |
| Turnover-Worthy Play % | 2.3% | 3.1% | 3.4% | 2.8% |
| Adjusted Comp. % | 78.4% | 74.1% | 72.8% | 76.0% |
| ESPN QBR (2024) | Limited sample | 82.4 | 76.1 | 79.5 |
Read that right. Moore’s projected PFF passing grade leads the group. His EPA per drop-back in relief already topped Manning’s full-season mark. The big-time throw to turnover-worthy play ratio is the best of the four — a 3.5:1 clip that NFL scouts hunt.
Oregon’s RPO system helps. It hides pre-snap reads behind run-action and creates layup throws off play-action. But Moore’s pressure-adjusted EPA — the stat that strips out scheme and measures processing — also sits at the top of the FBS passer pool.
Why Moore Edges Out Arch Manning & the Rest of the Top 10
Manning got the NIL hype. He got the Texas family legacy. CBS Sports has him at No. 2.
Moore won the analytics argument.
The head-to-head metric comparison shows Moore ahead in three categories that matter most for projecting FBS passers to NFL success: PFF passing grade on throws beyond the line of scrimmage, pressure-adjusted EPA, and the big-time throw to turnover-worthy play ratio. Manning wins on raw arm strength and rushing upside. The gap on decision-making tilts the ranking Moore’s way.
OC Will Stein’s scheme fit seals it. Oregon runs the second-fastest tempo in FBS football. Per 247Sports, Moore told reporters this tempo lets him “play fast and not think too much” — a quote that translates to faster processing keys, more EPA per drop-back, and cleaner PFF grades on quick-game throws.
Still, questions hang over his head. The deep-ball accuracy sample is small. The 2025 season is his first as a true FBS starter. NFL draft evaluators want to see consistency across 12 games before pushing him into Round 1 territory. CBS Sports’ No. 1 ranking is a projection. Boise State is the first test.
What Moore Said Before Oregon vs. Boise State
Moore faced the media ahead of the Week 1 opener. A few quotes stand out — per 247Sports:
On leadership: “I learned that being a leader is about consistency. You can’t flip a switch.”
On Detroit: “Detroit taught me how to be tough. Every game, I carry that city with me.”
On the CBS Sports ranking: “It’s an honor. But rankings don’t win games. I have to prove it on Saturdays.”
That last line matters. Boise State returns Ashton Jeanty, the nation’s top running back, and a defensive line that pressures the quarterback. Week 1 will test Moore’s PFF grade on throws under duress. It will test EPA per drop-back against a real Power-conference-caliber opponent. It will test whether the QBR projection holds.
If Moore plays to his metrics, Oregon wins by two scores. If the metrics overrate the sample size, Boise State pulls the upset.
SEO FAQ
Who is the No. 1 college football QB in 2025?
Dante Moore of Oregon, per CBS Sports’ preseason NCAA FBS QB Power Rankings. The ranking blends PFF grades, EPA per drop-back, and ESPN QBR projections.
What is a good PFF grade for a college QB?
Anything above 80.0 is high quality. Above 85.0 is borderline NFL first-round. Above 90.0 is elite, top-five-pick territory. Moore’s projected 91.2 sits in that range.
How is QBR different from passer rating?
QBR runs 0-100 and includes rushing, sacks, turnovers, and situational context. Passer rating only counts passing volume, weights touchdowns and interceptions, and ignores context. QBR is the better overall measure of a quarterback’s value to his team.
Will Dante Moore be a first-round NFL draft pick?
Too early. The 2025 season will decide it. His current metrics support a Round 1 projection. His limited starting sample works against him. Scouts need a full season of FBS film to confirm the PFF grades.
Outlook: The Metrics to Watch All Season
Three stats will define Moore’s case for staying at No. 1: EPA per drop-back (clean measure of value), PFF big-time throw to turnover-worthy play ratio (NFL predictor), and adjusted completion percentage (scheme-independent accuracy).
Track those three. Ignore the noise. The Detroit kid has the arm, the scheme, and the metrics. Saturday will tell the rest.
💡 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Q: What is QBR and how does it differ from passer rating in NCAA FBS football?
- A: QBR (Total Quarterback Rating) is ESPN’s advanced metric that values each play’s success based on down, distance, and field position, weighted by its contribution to winning. Unlike traditional passer rating, QBR factors in rushing, sacks, clutch context, and game-winning drives on a 0–100 scale.
- Q: What does EPA per play mean for a college football quarterback?
- A: EPA (Expected Points Added) measures how a play changes the expected point outcome of a drive compared to league averages. A high EPA per dropback signals a quarterback consistently lifts his offense above baseline expectations—an efficiency marker heavily used in NCAA FBS analytics.
- Q: How are PFF passing grades calculated?
- A: PFF grades every snap a quarterback plays, awarding positive marks for accurate, well-timed throws and negative marks for pressure, turnover-worthy throws, and missed reads. Grades are normalized 0–100, with 90+ considered elite among FBS passers.
- Q: Why is Dante Moore ranked No. 1 in the 2025 NCAA FBS QB rankings?
- A: Moore topped the preseason list due to elite projected QBR, EPA, and PFF marks inside Oregon’s RPO-heavy, tempo-based offense. His arm talent, processing speed, and system fit led CBS Sports to rank him ahead of Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, and Cade Klubnik.
- Q: Did Dante Moore have a strong freshman season at UCLA?
- A: No. Moore’s 2023 freshman year at UCLA was inconsistent, which prompted his transfer to Oregon. After sitting behind Bo Nix in 2024, he reclassified and won the starting job under Dan Lanning, fueling his surge in the NCAA FBS passer rankings.
Extended Reading
- College Football QB Power Rankings: Dante Moore, Arch Manning lead top 50 — CBS Sports
- Dante Moore says success grew from Detroit roots — The Detroit News
- Everything Dante Moore said ahead of Oregon’s season opener against Boise State — 247Sports
