Husky Roster Review: We'll See More of Moore This Season

The veteran tight end is expected to be the starter for Jedd Fisch's coaching staff.

UW tight end Quentin Moore heads upfield with a spring reception. / Skylar Lin Visuals

The University of Washington football team tends to line up its tight ends like semi trucks at an interstate weigh station. It might take a long time getting checked out and waved through the process, but eventually they merge into traffic.

Quentin Moore can tell you all about this experience, of waiting to pass inspection, before he can get on down the road.

In 2021, he came to the Huskies ranked as the nation's No. 1 JC tight end, coming from Independence Community College, a two-year Kansas school located in the southeastern corner of that state, not far from both borders with Oklahoma and Missouri.

Once in Montlake, Moore immediately got in line behind Cade Otton, Mark Redman, Devin Culp and Jack Westover. Continually injured that first season, he appeared only in games against Oregon State and UCLA that first season. For those keeping score: Otton and Culp now play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Westover for the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL, respectively, while Redman has one college year remaining at Louisville.

After three UW seasons, the 6-foot-4, 257-pound Moore, originally from Kenmore, Washington, has made himself more of an all-around player and positioned himself to become the No. 1 tight end for Jedd Fisch's coaching staff.

"I've just had to be patient these past few years," Moore said during spring ball. "Because I was kind of the role player, the blocking tight end, this year I'm really taking it to heart and working on my receiving. Yes, there are a lot more opportunities for me this year."

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

Kind of hidden behind the scenes in 2023, Moore nonetheless appeared in all 15 games for the national runner-up Huskies, as one of four tight ends who played in every outing, joined by Josh Cuevas, Culp and Westover. Further demonstrating the quality of player the UW requires at this spot, Cuevas now plays for Alabama.

Moore's most recent tight-end reception stands as the biggest one of his football career so far. For the 14-1 Huskies, he caught two balls all last season. The first one was an 8-yarder against Tulsa in the second game. The other came near the end of the Pac-12 championship game against Oregon in Las Vegas and turned out to be the deciding points in the UW's 34-31 victory.

Quentin Moore is the lone returning experienced tight end for the Huskies. / Skylar Lin Visuals

With 2:44 left to play against the Ducks, Moore set up in his typical blocker role, delayed coming off the line and then hauled in a 2-yard scoring pass from Michael Penix Jr. that was uncontested, capped off a 12-play, 82-yard drive and gave the Huskies a 34-24 lead.

His new coaches know all about Moore's time in the Vegas spotlight, of how he left Sin City as a big winner, team-wise and individually, and he's pushing to have more success.

"Just being able to play in big games, catching a touchdown pass in the Pac-12 championship game, he's making plays," UW tight-ends coach Jordan Paopao said.

For the veteran tight end, he used that moment of glory in Nevada to become the Huskies' starter throughout spring ball with the full expectation of becoming the No. 1 guy for the coming season. He's now the old guy, showing younger tight ends such as Ryan Otton and Decker DeGraaf how to do the job right.

"That meant the world to me," Moore said of his title-game catch "As soon as I caught the ball, I made sure I scored the ball. I was like, 'OK, all that hard work, the Juco stuff, finally paid off.' "

Huskies tight end Quentin Moore (88) scores on a 2-yard touchdown reception against Oregon to decide the Pac-12 championship game. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

QUENTIN MOORE FILE

What he's done: Moore is fully capable of being a reliable receiver after catching 38 passes for 547 yards and 5 touchdowns in his lone season at Independence CC. Career-wise at the UW, he has 7 catches for 71 yards and that Vegas TD. He'll ironically compete for the job with a couple of players who are brothers of former Huskies in Keleki Latu, a Nevada transfer and the younger sibling for Laiatu, and sophomore Ryan Otton, who is four years younger than Cade.

Starter or not: He's appeared in 28 Husky games and started four, opening against California and Oregon State this past season. Moore is fully expected to be the No. 1 tight end and maybe even an NFL draft pick, the latter of which runs in the family. His father, Mark, was an Oklahoma State cornerback who was a fourth-round draft choice for the Seahawks, going as the 104th player taken, in 1987.

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