​In 2025, the Oregon Ducks turned to more freshmen than usual to cover big roles and responsibilities. The returns were better than anyone could have imagined. Brandon Finney became a Freshman All-American. Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. quickly became the future of the backfield. Dakorien Moore looked every bit the five-star talent he was billed as.So far this season, the Ducks have relied less on their elite recruiting class, but they haven’t been pushed aside. Messiah Hampton has already established his role in Oregon’s offense, but he is the only freshman with a defined starting role. Others have mixed in on both sides of the ball, but is there an opportunity for more?The Ducks have an opportunity to change things up heading into the bye week. There are areas the Ducks have struggled or faced injuries, and some of the freshmen Dan Lanning worked so hard to bring to Eugene could make an impact.The bye week is a time for players to showcase their worth in practice and potentially move up the depth chart and earn more chances on Saturdays. Here are five freshmen who could become bigger contributors for the Ducks the rest of the season after the bye week.CB Davon BenjaminDavon Benjamin has been part of the defense from the start, seeing most of his action out of the nickel. However, Oregon’s defense has changed a little bit since the season opener, with Finney handling most of the nickel responsibilities and Na’eem Offord and Ify Obidegwu posted on the outside. That means there have been fewer opportunities for the freshman to get in the mix.Still, Benjamin is a talent the Ducks need to give snaps to. Despite not having a ton of size, Benjamin’s smarts and athleticism have been evident from the start. In limited snaps, Benjamin has been solid in coverage, with the only big gaffe coming against Oklahoma State, and he even snagged his first interception against Portland State. He had a big pass deflection on third down against USC, but that was all we saw of him in the game.Given how much Oregon’s safeties have struggled so far, he could be a candidate to slide back and take snaps from either Aaron Flowers or Koi Perich. Benjamin’s ability to play the nickel makes him better suited to play the center-fielder role that Dillon Thieneman played a year ago, and that Perich has failed to recreate this season. I still expect Benjamin to play primarily out of the nickel, but he has enough versatility to move around the defense to get on the field.TE Kendre HarrisonJamari Johnson is back, so the Ducks don’t have as much of a pressing need for someone to step up at tight end. However, Kendre Harrison was the biggest contributor from the position while Johnson was out, catching four passes for 53 yards and a touchdown against Portland State. He and Andrew Olesh have primarily been featured as blockers alongside Johnson, but the 6-foot-7 target is too much to ignore in the passing game.In the two games Johnson has played, the Ducks haven’t used as many tig