QuickTake:

After a freshman year that included touchdowns and endorsement deals, Oregon’s sophomore receiver is working to make sure Season 2 is just as productive as the first.

Dakorien Moore says he’s just following the path set by the veterans.

Last year, as a true freshman, the Oregon wide receiver looked up to teammates such as Malik Benson — guys who had been there, done that and carried themselves in a professional way.

Moore came to Oregon as a 17-year-old, so the older players’ experience was massive for the 5-star prospect who quickly worked his way into quarterback Dante Moore’s circle of targets.

But in truth, there’s never really been a path like Dakorien Moore’s at Oregon.

Sure, the Ducks have had true freshman sensations over the years. Royce Freeman hit the ground running in 2014. Penei Sewell was already Oregon’s best lineman in 2018.

But none of them had an experience quite like Moore, who has become one of the faces of the modern college football superstar.

On the field, Moore made seven starts and totaled 34 catches for 497 yards and three touchdowns before injuries slowed him in the final third of the year. Off the field, he was heavily featured in the Paramount+ reality show “5-Star,” picked up sponsorship deals with Red Bull and Facebook, and became one of the first Ducks to have his return for another season announced as a “re-signing.”

It’s a lot for someone who, at this time a year ago, was supposed to be finishing high school. Instead, Moore got a jump-start on his career and hasn’t slowed down since arriving in Eugene.

And while he said his focus in 2026 is on being healthy and becoming a better leader, he’s also well aware of the spotlight he’s under.

“I have a lot of eyes on me,” Moore said. “I monitor everything that I do just to make sure I’m doing what people look up to.”

There are plenty of freshmen doing just that.

The Ducks have three first-year players at the position in camp this spring: Messiah Hampton, Hudson Lewis and Gatlin Bair. They also have another first-year Duck in Alabama-Birmingham transfer Iverson Hooks.

And though Moore isn’t the only returning receiver for the new guys to look up to — Oregon also brings back Jeremiah McClellan and Evan Stewart — he’s certainly an easy example for coaches to point to.

“Even as talented as he is, he’s getting better every single day,” Oregon receivers coach Ross Douglas said. “He’s coachable, and his attitude is a little different this year. Asking a lot of questions in the meeting room, making sure that he’s good on concepts, regardless of where he lines up. I love where he’s at right now.”

Added McClellan: “He’s using his voice way more than last year. Him being a leader on and off the field, that’s what I would say he’s grown the most at, for sure.”

Some things are simple, like making sure the new players understand the playbook and their roles within the offense. Other things are more behind the scenes.

For one, though he just turned 19, Moore said he’s reached the point in his career where he knows the training room is a good place to spend time.

“Last year, being that I came from high school, I wasn’t in the training room a lot,” Moore said. “Growing up, you hear a lot of, ‘Get in the training room,’ but back then you don’t really feel like you have to get in there. You just come back the next day and you feel good.”

Moore learned college football doesn’t work like that.

The Texas native said he spent a lot of time rehabbing in the training room after a knee injury cost him four games in November. And it’s worked. Moore said he feels “100 percent” this spring and, if there wasn’t enough proof of that on the football field, there may be at Hayward Field on Friday night.

Moore is competing in the long jump at the Oregon Invitational — something he said he wanted to do last year, but didn’t quite feel comfortable enough to try.

“I was supposed to do it when I first got here, but I felt that with football workouts I was not gonna be able to do it,” Moore said. “But being that I feel like I’m more mature now, I’m able to go out there and fight for what I love. Long jump is something that I have most of my love for. It’s something that I feel is my isolation piece, something I can step away to and just work on my craft individually.”

Tyson Alger covered the Ducks for The Oregonian and The Athletic before branching out on his own to create and run The I-5 Corridor. He brings more than a decade of experience on the University of Oregon sports beat. He has covered everything from Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning season to the Ducks’ first year in the Big 10.