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Having finished all of our position previews for the 2021 Northwestern football season, it’s time to break things down on the individual level, counting down who we here at Inside NU believe to be the 10 most important players on this year’s squad.
To start, here’s who our staffers have individually identified as their top 10 most important players for the coming season, as well as a composite rankings that roughly averages out each of our own choices. Keep in mind it’s the most important players rather than simply the best.
If we did the latter it would simply be a copy and paste of Brandon Joseph’s name at No. 1 over and over again, so we’re opting in favor of a less homogenous discussion.
Let the rankings commence!
2021’s Top 10 Most Important Players
| Rankings | Composite | Daniel Olinger | Mac Stone | Ben Chasen | William Karmin | Michael Barthelemy | Lia Assimakopoulos | Jacob Brown | Jack Izzo | Sarah Effress | Gavin Dorsey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rankings | Composite | Daniel Olinger | Mac Stone | Ben Chasen | William Karmin | Michael Barthelemy | Lia Assimakopoulos | Jacob Brown | Jack Izzo | Sarah Effress | Gavin Dorsey |
| 1 | Ryan Hilinski | Ryan Hilinski | Peter Skoronski | Cam Porter | Ryan Hilinski | Ryan Hilinski | Hilinski/HJ | Ryan Hilinski | Ryan Hilinski | Ryan Hilinski | Ryan Hilinski |
| 2 | Brandon Joseph | Brandon Joseph | Brandon Joseph | Ryan Hilinski | Cam Porter | Cam Porter | Cam Porter | AJ Hampton | Brandon Joseph | Brandon Joseph | Brandon Joseph |
| 3 | Cam Porter | Peter Skoronski | Cam Porter | Brandon Joseph | Peter Skoronski | Brandon Joseph | Brandon Joseph | Brandon Joseph | Chris Bergin | Cam Porter | Peter Skoronski |
| 4 | Peter Skoronski | Chris Bergin | Ryan Hilinski | Peter Skoronski | Brandon Joseph | Chris Bergin | Peter Skoronski | Samdup Miller | Cam Porter | Peter Skoronski | Cam Porter |
| 5 | Chris Bergin | Adetomiwa Adebawore | AJ Hampton | Chris Bergin | Stephon Robinson | Peter Skoronski | Chris Bergin | Chris Bergin | AJ Hampton | Chris Bergin | AJ Hampton |
| 6 | AJ Hampton | AJ Hampton | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Adetomiwa Adebawore | A Wide Receiver | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Samdup Miller | AJ Hampton | Chris Bergin |
| 7 | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Cameron Mitchell | Samdup Miller | AJ Hampton | Samdup Miller | Cameron Mitchell | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Peter Skoronski | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Charlie Mangieri | Adetomiwa Adebawore |
| 8 | Samdup Miller | Sam Gerak | Cameron Mitchell | Cameron Mitchell | Cam Porter | Malik Washington | Samdup Miller | Stephon Robinson | Peter Skoronski | Adetomiwa Adebawore | Cameron Mitchell |
| 9 | Cameron Mitchell | Samdup Miller | Charlie Kuhbander | Samdup Miller | AJ Hampton | AJ Hampton | AJ Hampton | Charlie Kubhander | Cameron Mitchell | Malik Washington | Malik Washington |
| 10 | Stephon Robinson Jr. | Cam Porter | Rod Heard | Stephon Robinson | Ethan Wiederkehr | Sam Gerak | Sam Gerak | Sam Gerak | Stephan Robinson | Cameron Mitchell | Samdup Miller |
Stay tuned as we break down these selections over the next few days, and feel free to drop your own rankings in the comments below!