In the wake of speculation about the future of Texas Longhorns junior wide receiver Deandre Moore Jr., Inside Texas reported last week that the California product is not expected to return in 2026, a decision to leave Forty Acres that was confirmed Monday by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
A member of the 2023 recruiting class, Moore was a late addition to Texas’ class after decommitting from Louisville during the early signing period and signing with the Longhorns. Moore, previously committed to Oklahoma, also took an official visit to Georgi and received offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M and USC, among others. A native of Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco, Moore was a two-way standout who finished the cycle as a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 105 player nationally and No. 20 wide receiver, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
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During the 2023 season, Moore played in nine games, appearing primarily on the punt return unit and returning one kickoff for 15 yards, failing to catch two targets in 58 snaps in six games on offense.
As a sophomore, Moore had a breakout season for Texas, playing 95 snaps on special teams with regular roles on the kickoff return, punt return, and punt coverage units and a larger role in the offense, catching 39 passes for 456 yards and seven touchdowns, including setting career highs with nine receptions and 114 yards while scoring a touchdown against Georgia in the SEC championship game.
The expectation was that Moore would continue to build on that success as a junior. After spending a season learning from Jordan Whittington, Moore was well regarded as a hard worker and team leader, but he wasn’t always able to translate those qualities into success on the field.
With 38 catches for 532 yards and four touchdowns, the 6’0, 192-pounder was unable to match his success from the 2024 season, disappointing as a blocker, struggling to create explosive plays and making several critical mental mistakes, such as going out of bounds as Texas was trying to kill the clock late in the Kentucky game and throwing a punt that bounced near the goal line against Arkansas.
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Given Moore’s lack of consistent improvement and high-profile lapses in situational awareness in 2025, there’s a sense that things simply didn’t work out as expected for Moore with the Longhorns, along with a concurrent belief that his unfulfilled potential doesn’t necessarily represent an indictment on either side even though he’s now one of Texas’ biggest departures in the Steve Sarkisian era.