January 14, 2026
Many coaches didn't want this. Some couldn't adjust. Look at how Mike Gundy crashed out at the end at Oklahoma State. But don't cry for Gundy; he received $15,000,000 to go away.
While I'm not sure I'll do it again this way in the future, I was proven right in pulling Arch Manning and LaNorris Sellers and Dante Moore from my mock draft last year. The players have the power now.
Oregon in particular is the most interesting program to watch, with the backing of billionaire Phil Knight. The Ducks ended up not being able to keep them all with potential top-10 pick TE Kenyon Sadiq and safety Dillon Thieneman heading to the NFL.
But, along with Moore, they kept several key players with potential NFL early eligibility, including EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei, DT A'Mauri Washington, and center Iapani "Poncho" Laloulu. One person close to Oregon told me two months ago that he thought Poncho was the most likely of the Ducks with 2026 NCAA eligibility to leave for the NFL, even above Moore.
In the end, they both stayed. Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola is heading to Eugene, likely to use an available redshirt season for 2026 similar to what Moore did in 2024 after transferring from UCLA. Incoming former Minnesota DB Koi Perich will help to fill the hole left by Thieneman's departure.
But the topic everyone will want to talk about is Dante Moore, who by staying at Oregon for a massive payday is the clearest sign yet that NIL has reshaped the draft calculus.
It had nothing to do with the 20-year-old Moore as a person. I've heard nothing but good things about him. But there were negative narratives based on past performances by others that were going to snowball throughout the off-season, no matter what Moore did.
Those narratives aren't necessarily wrong, by the way. The track record of NFL quarterbacks with fewer than 20 career college starts is not good. And those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Whether that's a fair assessment is a matter of opinion, but perception can become reality. The Jets are in the midst of a major rebuild. The upcoming season won't be easy. New York's sports media is notoriously harsh.
As an aside: how did the Jets manage to play 17 games and end up with zero interceptions for the 2025 season? If that happened in a video game, you'd say it was glitched.
And now the question becomes: with Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza expected to be drafted at #1 by the Las Vegas Raiders, what will the Jets do with the #2 selection? We'll see.