Update from Sam Webb on Dante Moore
Sam Webb posted a “Real Recognize Real” update on Dante Moore, the former top QB recruiting target for Michigan now leaving UCLA. For the full details, subscribe to 247, but Sam spoke to Moore’s dad, who insists that Moore is looking for a place where he’ll be developed, and where the OL will protect him.
Webb believes that Michigan has a real chance here, especially with Campbell replacing Weiss as QB coach. More details at 247.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:03 PM ^
Part of me likes this, but another part of me wonders if he's just going to end to going to the highest pay day for the third time.
A mercenary at QB doesn't seem like a good fit here.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:06 PM ^
Mercenary is definitely NOT a characteristic of Michigan’s culture.
December 1st, 2023 at 6:19 PM ^
Rudock was alright
December 1st, 2023 at 6:56 PM ^
Wouldn't call Jake a mercenary. He was a pre-NIL grad transfer and got much more name recognition in one year at Michigan than he ever did at Iowa. It was a very good system fit for him at the time, too, I think. But he was alright and probably underappreciated, indeed. Doing what he was able to do in year 1 of Harbaugh and the regime change was a testament to his experience and leadership.
December 1st, 2023 at 7:23 PM ^
Jake thrived in Harbaugh''s offense and progressed (ascended!) throughout the course of the year. I shudder to think how that season might have gone without him.
Calling him a mercenary is unfair. He did prosper, though, it an improved offensive system.
December 1st, 2023 at 7:27 PM ^
Yes, the key is pre-NIL.
Ruddock came to Michigan to be the best QB he could be plus he filled a void in the QB room that existed at that time. The rest is history. He made a big difference in Harbaugh's first year in Ann Arbor.
December 1st, 2023 at 8:03 PM ^
rudock didn’t chase the bag. obviously.
December 2nd, 2023 at 8:04 AM ^
Rudock was more of Mr. Wolf than a merc
December 1st, 2023 at 6:26 PM ^
That, and is development and an OL going to move him from bad to even average? Let alone elite?
December 1st, 2023 at 6:44 PM ^
Very interesting chart…
December 1st, 2023 at 6:45 PM ^
He was a true freshman this year. He may not have been ready to be a starter, which could be said of most guys his age.
December 1st, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
I'd rather have Jaydn and a grad transfer for a 1 year development year. I dont want to lose the bird in the bush for someone that might bail and had what looks to be one of the worst years in the P5.
December 1st, 2023 at 10:46 PM ^
I would rather have Alex Orji than Dante Moore, tbh
December 1st, 2023 at 5:11 PM ^
It's not like he was choosing programs that weren't reasonable for on the field success -- he chose Oregon and then UCLA. It didn't work out at the latter (as Chip Kelly seems to have hit a wall).
But I agree with those concerns, and it's pretty easy for Michigan to deal with this, and that's by not offering him the highest pay. Now, programs do not technically have control over what is offered (e.g., if a collective decides to offer Recruit John Doe $5 million, even though the coach doesn't really want him, there is not supposed to be anything the coach can do with these [cough] "independent" entities) but it seems pretty likely that UM won't be the highest bidder for Moore.
The coaches can see whether he's OK with that. If he is, they can continue to recruit him based on non-monetary aspect (e.g., playing time; development); if he asks for more cash, thank him and *publicly* move on to another option.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:17 PM ^
In hindsight, maybe he regrets not sticking with Oregon. Could have been on a winning team getting developed while Nix runs the show, then be in a position to compete for the starting job next year.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:20 PM ^
You have to imagine that, much like Joe Milton, he expected to come in and just succeed right away given all his accolades, HS achievements, physical advantages over his HS peers, etc.
Looks like both he and Milton have matured to the extent that they realize they need some seasoning/development. I would also bet that his father has also seen the light in that respect. Hard for parents of these kids to have a level head and admit that their kid isn't going to set the world on fire from day 1.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:29 PM ^
Speaking of does Milton have any eligibility left? Kids gotta be pushing 25.
December 1st, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
25% completion rate? Sounds about right for Joe
December 1st, 2023 at 9:01 PM ^
But can throw the ball 79 yards on his butt...
December 1st, 2023 at 7:08 PM ^
Well, if Joe Milton did think of himself that way, it would have been weird. Milton never had a season in HS where he completed half of his passes, and he threw for only 10 TDs his senior year. When he was recruited, everyone said he was a project with high upside and arm strength, but he wasn't likely to get playing time for a few years. Dante Moore won national player of the year awards and threw for 130 TDS during his HS career.
December 1st, 2023 at 7:23 PM ^
Speaking of which, there is probably better than a coin flip hance he goes to Oregon now.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:18 PM ^
If he can throw the ball and is athletic, I could care less about being a mercenary. Next year, we will possibly not have any qbs on the roster who are ready to start.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
Based on what? There are multiple QBs on the roster who have been in the system for a couple years and could be ready to go. There's no guarantee that Dante Moore would be ahead of them, and if he was, there's no guarantee he'd be better than he was last year at UCLA.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:53 PM ^
Based on their recruiting rankings. Two low three star guys and Warren. Orgi should be a TE and Donegal is Wilton Speight.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:58 PM ^
With the recruiting ranking all the time.
Michigan just bashed in the heads of the best recruiting team in the country back to back to back. Dudes worried about the bag don’t work here now.
December 1st, 2023 at 6:04 PM ^
Cade was a four star and JJ a five star.
Stars matter. Particularly for QBs.
December 1st, 2023 at 6:13 PM ^
Orji is the wild card. Can he learn to throw the ball and read defenses?
December 1st, 2023 at 8:07 PM ^
Not interested in wild cards. We need a good starting QB EVERY year.
December 2nd, 2023 at 3:02 AM ^
I agree, we need someone dependable as well. But Orji is the best athlete on the team. He has tremendous potential as a wild card, someone who can take over a game. It doesn't have to be either/or. It can be both/and.
Orji was not bad in the spring game. It will be interesting to see how he develops, and how he looks this spring and next if he sticks around.
But I agree we need a veteran QB to compete for the starting job next year from the portal.
December 2nd, 2023 at 7:03 AM ^
How about we just ask JJ to stay one more year...lol
December 1st, 2023 at 8:05 PM ^
buy in matters too. Stars don’t matter without it. But keep reciting what you hear on twitter.
December 1st, 2023 at 8:40 PM ^
Shea was rated higher than both JJ and Cade. How did that work out?
December 1st, 2023 at 7:07 PM ^
If JJ goes pro I think Michigan will 100% be in the transfer QB market. The current guys on the roster really seem more like depth options. We got to see a lot of our backup QBs the first 10 weeks of the season and at this point Im not confident in giving the keys to the offense to any of them. Jadyn needs at least a year to work on his throwing mechanics and transition to the college game.
December 1st, 2023 at 9:02 PM ^
Transfer portal starts 12/4. We can't wait for JJ to make a decision in a month.
True freshman QBs should never start in CFB. It's asking for hell.
December 1st, 2023 at 6:32 PM ^
Oriji a d Denegal look "okay" this year and could develop and bloom by next year. The portal has a lot of very good and polished college quarterbacks.
December 1st, 2023 at 7:30 PM ^
I disagree wholeheartedly.
Harbaugh and his staff certainly evaluate and desire talent, but also evaluate character and the desire and ability to get along and to buy in to the prevailing culture that they have developed. This formula has led to a certain level of success, culminating in 3 straight appearances in the Big Ten Championship game.
Why would anyone want to deviate from that path?
December 1st, 2023 at 5:30 PM ^
I was discussing this with someone else here on the board. Can he transfer again? Or not until he graduates? Without penalty?
December 1st, 2023 at 5:40 PM ^
He hasn't transferred before. I flipped his commitment from Oregon to UCLA. So yes, he can use his one-time transfer with immediate eligibility.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
Ah that is right. In my mind he had flipped from State to us to Oregon to UCLA, and I forgot that that was just his recruiting process. Thanks!
December 1st, 2023 at 6:01 PM ^
He never commited to state or us he commited to Oregon and flipped to UCLA. RCMB was the only reason he was ever mentioned with that shit hole
December 1st, 2023 at 7:06 PM ^
That didn’t happen either. He committed to Oregon. Bo Nix said he was coming back, and he flipped to UCLA. At no point was he committed to State or us.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:32 PM ^
Sometimes you date someone, and that crashes and burns. And then you date someone else and that crashes and burns, and you start wondering if your “type” is just kinda toxic or if you’ve got some bad habits you need to break. Then you try to improve yourself and try to date someone who isn’t your previous type, and it turns out that you find your true match and end up in the NFL.
Just saying, it happens
December 1st, 2023 at 6:40 PM ^
Sounds to me he was chasing playing time and after getting thrown in the fire realizes he should have been chasing development and a competent OL. I read somewhere he's fine with being a backup too. If that's accurate, I see zero downside in taking him.
December 1st, 2023 at 6:57 PM ^
The UM coaching staff must have a pretty good idea of the type of character Dante has given how often he was around campus and how long they recruited him. You can never be 100% certain about anyone but Harbaugh, Campbell, Clink, Bellamy, etc. these guys KNOW Detroit ball better than anyone else.
So, if they think this is worth pursuing them by all means...the more high-level competition at the QB position the better.
December 1st, 2023 at 7:55 PM ^
Good thing getting him as a transfer is it’s harder to transfer after the first one now.
December 1st, 2023 at 8:59 PM ^
It will.
Moore has zero credits at Michigan and will be a fucking true freshman due to our academic
culture. UCLA of course has no credits that counts at Michigan because it's a dismal school ala Harvard Yale Stanford MIT and Oxford.
December 2nd, 2023 at 11:26 AM ^
Transferring to Michigan after freshman year at UCLA would be pretty easy actually.
I would take him in a heartbeat, and anyone labeling him a bust or Joe Milton are casuals who don’t watch football. I’m skeptical he doesn’t go to Oregon though.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:08 PM ^
Well if he wants to be developed for a year or two, UM is the place to be. You can also make decent NIL dollars once you are in.
Have no idea how this messes up recruiting Underwood but Moore has real talent.
December 1st, 2023 at 5:11 PM ^
Underwood seems unlikely at this point anyway.