It appears that DeAndre Moore Jr. is headed to the Colorado Buffaloes, to play under $60 million worth head coach Deion Sanders, not the Kentucky Wildcats, as initially thought. This was reported by On3’s Pete Nakos, who also said that the Wildcats will continue to pursue the player, and that there’s still a chance that Ole Miss could enter the picture. Ohio State and Louisville are also in the mix, according to prior reports.
The wide receiver is considered a four-star transfer by 247Sports, and he’s ranked as the fifth-best player in his position available in this transfer portal window. He’s the 18th-best overall player available in the portal at the moment.
He was recruited as a four-star prospect in the class of 2023, where he was ranked as the 19th best wide receiver, the 10th best player out of California, and the 121st best player in the nation. He was primarily used by the Longhorns in special teams in his freshman year, but he posted a couple of 400+ receiving yards seasons in 2024 and 2025.
Between 2024 and 2025, he posted 988 receiving yards, with 11 touchdowns in 77 receptions for Texas. He was Texas’s second-best receiver in the year, behind Ryan Wingo, who recorded 834 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 54 receptions.
Why Is DeAndre Moore Leaving Texas?
While there’s no straight reason for why Moore is leaving the Texas Longhorns, one of the top programs in the nation, we can read between the lines that he didn’t pan out to be what Steve Sarkisian expected.
During the 2025 SEC Football Media Days, Sarkisian praised Moore and said that he was called out to be the leader of the receiving corps in the 2025 season:
“The receiving corps is one we’re really excited about. We’ve had receivers drafted in the first round the last two years’ draft, but this group is really good. DeAndre Moore is the leader of that group, who played a ton for us last year in the slot. Ryan Wingo was a true freshman last year, who probably at a lot of other schools probably had more opportunities, but when you had the room we had, he was very efficient, had a bunch of catches in critical moments for us. We’re excited about him.”
In the end, that didn’t happen, and it turned out that the freshman Ryan Wingo was being prioritized over the veteran. It could simply be that Moore Jr. doesn’t see more space to grow at Austin in 2026, and with his mind set on the 2027 NFL Draft, he wants to be a program’s standout receiver.
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