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It’s officially summer, even for us quarter system kids, and that means it’s time for Inside NU’s annual Northwestern Football Summer Guide. We’re starting things off with our top 10 most important players rankings. We had our staff members rank their top 10 Wildcats for 2018 in order of importance— a word that can really mean anything. Then, we created composite rankings by giving a player 10 points for being ranked No. 1, nine points for being ranked No. 2, etc.
Here the rankings for each staff member, as well as the composite rankings:
Top 10 Most Important players
| Ranking | Composite | Caleb Friedman | Davis Rich | Martin Oppegaard | Noah Coffman | Graham Brennan | Talia Hendel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | Composite | Caleb Friedman | Davis Rich | Martin Oppegaard | Noah Coffman | Graham Brennan | Talia Hendel |
| 1 | Clayton Thorson | Clayton Thorson | Thorson | Clayton Thorson | Clayton Thorson | Clayton Thorson | Clayton Thorson |
| 2 | Nate Hall | Nate Hall | Nate Hall | Paddy Fisher | Nate Hall | Paddy Fisher | Paddy Fisher |
| 3 | Montre Hartage | Rashawn Slater | Jeremy Larkin | Montre Hartage | Jordan Thompson | Montre Hartage | Jeremy Larkin |
| 4 | Paddy Fisher | Bennett Skowronek | Montre Hartage | Solomon Vault | Bennett Skowrownek | Jordan Thompson | Montre Hartage |
| 5 | Jeremy Larkin | Jared McGee | Solomon Vault | Joe Gaziano | Jeremy Larkin | Bennett Skowronek | Bennett Skowronek |
| 6 | Jordan Thompson | Jeremy Larkin | Jordan Thompson | No. 2 CB (Trae Williams?) | Joe Gaziano | Rashawn Slater | Joe Gaziano |
| 7 | Bennett Skowronek | Jordan Thompson | Jared McGee | Jeremy Larkin | Paddy Fisher | Joe Gaziano | Nate Hall |
| 8 | Joe Gaziano | Montre Hartage | Center | Nate Hall | Jared McGee | Samdup Miller | Jordan Thompson |
| 9 | Rashawn Slater | Paddy Fisher | Samdup Miller | Rashawn Slater | JB Butler | JB Butler | Samdup Miller |
| 10 | Jared McGee | Joe Gaziano | Cam Green | Charlie Kuhbander | JR Pace | Nate Hall | JR Pace |
Starting tomorrow, we’ll count down the top 10, debating where we slotted players and what “important” means. As always, feel free to make your own top 10 lists in the comments and engage with us, whether you agree or disagree.