On a busy weekend of college football packed with high-profile matchups, perhaps the biggest game on the slate takes place in Happy Valley where the No. 3 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions, unbeaten at 3-0, host the No. 6 Oregon Ducks in rematch of last season’s Big 10 championship. But the clash also pits two of the country’s most exciting quarterback prospects against each other in a head-to-head matchup.
Penn State’s Drew Allar and Oregon’s Dante Moore are considered possible No. 1 overall picks in the NFL draft, or if not the top pick than each is likely among the top five. But Allar comes with more hype surrounding him, and as a result, the 21-year-old from Medina, Ohio, significantly out-earns Moore when it comes to NIL (name, image and likeness) cash.
According to the NIL valuation site On3, Allar ranks as the 10th-highest paid player in college football. Moore, according to the site, places 45th.
Allar Announces NIL Venmo Deal
Adding to his valuation, which On3 reports as $2.8 million, Allar inked a new NIL endorsement deal just two days before his big game — his first real test of the 2025 season — against Moore and the Ducks.
On Thursday, Allar announced that he had signed with the online financial firm Venmo to endorse the company’s Penn State-branded debit card. In his statement, Allar said that he uses his NIL earnings to “support my team, give back to youth sports programs, and stay connected off the field during my senior year.”
It is also certainly possible that Allar earns more than the reported $2.8 million in NIL money. In August, On3 evaluator Pete Nakos put the Nittany Lions’ signal caller at $3.1 million in NIL value.
Moore Not Even Highest-Paid on Own Team
On the other hand, Moore — who has led Oregon to an undefeated four straight wins to start the season — had projected NIL earnings estimated at approximately $640,000 heading into the season, which ranked him only sixth on his own team.
Moore endorses Beats by Dre headphones as part of the company’s “Beats Elite” group of college athletes selected to take part in the advertising campaign.
Of course, NIL valuations are based as much or more on the perceived marketability of a college athlete than on that athlete’s actual performance. So how do Allar and Moore stack up as quarterbacks?
QB ‘Guru’ Rates Moore as Tops in CFB
According to quarterback trainer and “guru” Quincy Avery — subject of the recent Hulu documentary The Quincy Avery Effect — it’s Moore who gets the edge. In fact, Avery calls Moore the best QB in college football.
“He reminds me so much of (Green Bay Packers QB) Jordan Love with the smoothness and efficiency with which he plays. He is the best quarterback in college football right now,” Avery said in a recent podcast interview. “He should be the first quarterback selected in the draft.”
As for Allar, the renowned “guru” is not nearly as enthusiastic, blasting the Penn State quarterback for his struggle with accurate passing. In his three games, Allar has completed just four touchdowns passes with an overall 64.8 percent completion rate.
“He’s one of the least accurate quarterbacks you can watch, that people talk about as a top-tier talent,” Avery said in the podcast interview. “He’s trying to throw in this new age where your hips get super fast and you try to catch up on your top half. That creates some real problems. And we see that on Saturdays, Drew Allar being very inaccurate.”