Oregon Football: 5 Duck Backups That Could Easily Start for Kansas State

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When the Oregon Ducks face off against the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl, Oregon is going to have an extreme advantage in one aspect of the game: depth.

The Ducks' roster is as deep as the Marianas Trench and that depth will come in handy in the Fiesta Bowl.

How deep is Oregon's roster you ask?

Oregon's roster is so deep that there are more than a handful of backups that could easily be starters for the Wildcats.

Here are five of them.

De'Anthony Thomas

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Believe it or not, De'Anthony Thomas is officially a backup. Granted he plays so many positions that some have come to call him the James Franco of football, the fact remains that he is not a starter on Oregon's team.

If he were to don a purple uniform, however, Thomas would be the primary back in Bill Snyder's offense.

Kansas State's leading rusher this season was John Hubert who gained 892 yards on 172 carries, a 5.2 yard-per-carry average.

Thomas, on the other hand, carried the ball 90 times for 686 yards, a yard-per-carry average of 7.6.

If you were to subtract Thomas' rushing numbers from Hubert's, the difference would be 82 carries, 206 yards.

For a yard-per-carry average of 2.5.

Arik Armstead

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Armstead drew raves around Eugene when he choose to commit to Oregon after de-committing from Pac-12 rival and supposed recruiting power USC.

Armstead saw the field quite a bit this season as a true freshman, and if he was a Wildcat, he could have seen it a lot more.

With the stature of an elephant, 6'8 and 280 pounds, Armstead is a force in the trenches along the defensive line, and he had a knack for putting pressure on the quarterback.

Luckily for Marcus Mariota, the big guy choose the Ducks.

Troy Hill

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You have to feel sorry for Troy Hill at times.

Hill is an extremely talented cornerback that possesses big-play ability.

Unfortunately, Oregon already has two cornerbacks that possess the same skills at Hill; all three are sophomores.

Hill could be a starter on a lot of teams across the nation, and Kansas State is one of those teams.

Kyle Long

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Long is a backup merely because he is pretty new to the offensive line, heck the game of football in general.

After leaving the Florida State baseball team due to academic issues, Long transferred to Saddleback College and originally played on the defensive line until his last year.

Long has brought ferocity to the Oregon trenches when he enters the game, and he could have done the same thing as a Wildcat.

If Long played for Kansas State however, he would be a starter, not backup.

Any Backup Receiver

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Just as I feel bad for Troy Hill, I sometimes feel bad for Oregon receivers, even though they probably don't care at all.

The Ducks have some of the most talented wide receivers in the nation, yet with the way Chip Kelly runs his offense, they hardly ever get to pile up stats.

Bralon Addison, Eric Dungy, BJ Kelly and Daryle Hawkins could all be pushing Kansas State's Chris Harper, a former Oregon quarterback, and Tyler Lockett for playing time as starters.