Oregon's Dante Moore Potentially 'Grand Slam' in Eyes of NFL Teams, Mel Kiper Says

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore just led the Ducks to a huge road win over previously third-ranked Penn State, 30-24 in double overtime. Moore completed 29-of-39 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 35 yards in the massive win.

That performance is creating more NFL draft buzz for Moore, and ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. raved about him in the latest edition of First Draft with Mike Greenberg and Field Yates (13:33 mark), notably saying he's potentially a "grand slam" pick in the eyes of NFL teams.

"I've kind of changed over the years, and really maybe over the last year or two, to say, it's gotta be a grand slam or a home run. It's gotta be now in the NFL. The days of the double, single are over, so you got, everybody's looking for that, swinging for the fences, right? That's what they do in baseball now, okay? Not playing small ball, they're swinging for the fences. Dante Moore is a grand slam, potentially, in the eyes, I think, of the NFL brass, right? They're looking at that. The other guys, maybe singles, doubles...

Kiper later added: "But the bottom line is, all this weekend was wrapped up in one player, and that's Dante Moore. That's the bottom line with six exclamation points."

It's hard to ignore Moore's production so far. He's completed 100-of-134 passes (74.6 percent) for 14 touchdowns (just one interception) while rushing for 122 yards.

He had a crucial Big Ten matchup against Penn State and answered the call, and now Oregon is second in the nation and potentially primed for a national championship run.

It wouldn't be a surprise to see Moore get picked high next April in the draft, perhaps at No. 1 overall. Other quarterbacks certainly can make their cases, including Indiana's Fernando Mendoza and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers.

However, Moore has been fantastic so far, and he'll look to keep the 5-0 Ducks rolling on Saturday when they face another tough test at home against No. 8 Indiana.