Dylan Raiola transfer: Ari Wasserman sees Oregon commitment as QB admitting he is 'not good enough'

On Monday, former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola committed to Oregon, via the NCAA Transfer Portal. However, Ducks starting QB Dante Moore hasn’t yet announced whether he’ll be returning next season or entering the 2026 NFL Draft.

The dilemma has led some pundits to wonder aloud whether Raiola’s move is an admission of humility from the standout quarterback. On a recent episode of Andy & Ari On3, Ari Wasserman weighed in on Raiola’s transfer decision.

“Let’s mirror this to what Dante Moore himself did: Go sit behind somebody who’s older and wiser. Dante Moore’s not older or wiser [than Raiola],” Wasserman said. “This might be an admission that you’re not good enough or where you want to be in your career.

“… If he’s fully healthy and just willingly sitting behind Dante Moore, I think that that’s actually the most healthy thing that this guy has done in his entire playing career. If you go back to his high school transfer history, you go through his recruitment and his multiple commitments, and now this transfer, you would never think that it would be in the cards for them to not make Dylan Raiola the center of attention, or the main storyline of his own team.”

Opting to be a team’s second option would certainly be a change of pace for Raiola. The former five-star prospect was Nebraska’s starting quarterback from the moment he walked on campus in 2024.

As a true freshman, Raiola racked up 2,819 passing yards and 13 touchdowns. Alas, he also threw 11 interceptions. Raiola showed improvement this past season, boosting his completing percentage by 5% and only throwing six interceptions compared to 18 TDs.

Unfortunately, Raiola’s season was cut short when he suffered a broken fibula in Week 10. Wasserman believes a year to grow in Oregon’s system could be beneficial for Raiola, whether he’s healthy or not.

“I actually think it would be more encouraging if he knew he was going to be healthy enough to play, and he decided he needed that year to develop, to be on a team with more talent, to learn from somebody who’s playing at a high level,” Wasserman said. “If he was able to play next year, and he was considering the NFL after next year, this would be a terrible move.

“But, I wonder if there is some inward looking of like, ‘Hey, I’m not where I need to be, or I’m not good enough yet. I’m going to go to the situation that has the best opportunity for that to be brought out of me, so that when I enter the NFL Draft the year after, I’m in a really good spot.’ I actually think this is a very functional move for him.”