Voting Criteria: Player's importance to the team in 2021, overall talent, and future potential for the upcoming season. A player's long-term/NFL prospects were not taken into consideration.
Voting Panel: Publisher Chris McLaughlin, and Herdnation.com staffers Sean Hammond, Aaron Perkins and Aaron Coleman.
5. Xavier Gaines, SR, TE.
Gaines is an enigma wrapped in question marks. Gaines possesses talent that easily projects to Sundays but often times disappears for long stretches during games. Marshall needs Gaines to dominate down in and down out to truly be dynamic on offense in 2021.
4. Abraham Beauplan JR, LB.
With Tavante Beckett gone, Beauplan is the man on the outside at linebacker for the Herd in 2021. Don't be surprised if Beauplan pushes for C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and gets himself into the conversation for the 2022 NFL draft.
3. Nazeeh Johnson, S, Sr.
Johnson's decision to return this year kind of flew under the radar but was possibly the biggest roster news of the offseason. A true swiss army knife type of player, Johnson can line up and both free and strong safety and has enough quickness to slide down to nickel corner. The former walk-on's story makes him easy to root for and will make Johnson a fan favorite this year.
2. Corey Gammage, WR, SO.
It is a bit surprising to see Gammage's name this high on the list but when you stop to think about how important he is to the team's success in 2021; it makes all the sense in the world. There isn't another receiver on the roster with the size and skill-set that Gammage has; which makes him the ultimate break-out candidate.
1. Grant Wells, QB, Fr.
Well duh, right? There is only one choice here and every voter on the panel had Grant at number one. How Wells develops this year will not also play a huge part of how successful Marshall is in 2021, but will shape the entire program for the nest two to three years.