Oregon Ducks Football: Quarterback Depth Chart

The quarterback is the most important position in football and without a capable quarterback, a team's chances to win are slim to none. The quarterback is the leader of the offense, must make all the adjustments and make sure everyone is lined up correctly in order to give the play the best chance to work. Especially in the spread option, which the Ducks so famously run, quarterbacks must make decisions at a lightning-fast pace.

I'm going to go through the quarterbacks on the Ducks roster, give you the depth chart position and a piece of analysis for each player.

1. Darron Thomas

Darron Thomas has been in Chip Kelly's system for a full three years and has a full year of starting experience after possibly the best season a Duck quarterback has ever had. Thomas showed his dual-threat skills with 486 rushing yards and 2,881 passing yards. Thomas had 346 passing yards in the national championship, but could have made some better reads against Auburn's defense (throwing two interceptions).

Thomas has shown leadership ability all offseason and has set the standard for all his teammates through his actions.

2. Bryan Bennett

Bryan Bennett is an intriguing prospect that will back up Thomas. Bennett showed his strong arm and fast feet in the spring game. After Nate Costa's season-ending injury, Bennett backed up Darron Thomas but didn't appear in any games and redshirted.

Bennett is receiving praise from the coaching staff and has boatloads of potential but is unproven on the field. Entering his second season in Eugene, Bennett should improve rapidly and will be a strong backup and mentee for Darron Thomas.

3. Marcus Mariota

This is where things become uncertain.

Fighting for the third spot on the depth chart will be Marcus Mariota and walk-on Dustin Haines. Mariota was a very fast riser towards the end of his high school career and received interest from schools such as USC, Notre Dame and Stanford. Mariota is long and lanky, and can easily throw the old pigskin 50-60 yards with the flick of his wrist. Mariota's dual-threat skills make him a great fit in Oregon's spread offense.

Barring injuries this year, Mariota shouldn't play any snaps and will redshirt for the Ducks.

4. Dustin Haines

Dustin Haines is a Eugene native who walked on last year. Many people know Haines as "the guy that holds up the play cards." Haines also gained publicity for being arrested last spring on one count of resisting arrest.

Unless Haines' skills improve dramatically, I don't see him having any impact past holding Oregon's unique play cards up.

5. Brennan Doty

Doty will join the Ducks this year as a walk-on and will also try to play basketball for the Ducks. Doty was named All-District offensive MVP. He was also the MVP according to the Port Arthur news super-team award.

Doty seems to be more of a pocket passer and shows good touch on his passes.

Bonus: Daryle Hawkins

Hawkins has shifted from quarterback to receiver back to quarterback during his time with the Ducks.

This spring, the Ducks moved Hawkins full-time to receiver and while Chip Kelly has said that Hawkins' best place to make an impact is with the receivers, injuries or bad play by the backups could force Hawkins back into the quarterback role.