— By Bill Cornwell
More than two months out from the start of college football season, Marshall football players are receiving recognition from one of the more widely-read publications across the sport.
Phil Steele has released its Sun Belt Conference preseason All-Conference teams and the Herd is well-represented on those lists.
Five returning Marshall players were named as first-team All-Sun Belt preseason selections in quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, tight end Toby Payne, wide receiver Adrian Norton, offensive lineman Jalen Slappy and defensive back Daytione Smith.
“We are happy to see our guys get recognized and thank Phil Steele for recognizing the talent we have returning for the 2026 season,” Marshall head coach Tony Gibson said. “There are plenty of reasons to get excited for this 2026 season and these guys have a big part to do with that.”
Del Rio Wilson hopes to remain healthy and improve on his statistics from 2025 when he started 10 games and threw for 2,043 yards with 17 touchdowns and five interceptions. Del Rio-Wilson also broke Marshall’s single-season rushing yardage record for a quarterback with 661 yards and another six touchdowns.
Norton, a transfer from Akron, caught 27 passes for 363 yards and five touchdowns in 2025. He’ll lead a group of wideouts for Marshall that will feature more than its fair share of fresh faces arriving by way of transfer.
A native of Poca, Payne was a first-team All-Sun Belt pick last year after catching 37 passes for 393 yards and two touchdowns.
Slappy is a three-year starter on the Herd offensive line with 30 starts over the last three seasons.
Smith was in on 50 tackles to go with three interceptions last fall.
Three Marshall players are on the Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Conference second team in linebackers Javae Gilmore and Jalen Marshall and kick returner/receiver Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw.
Gilmore had 63 tackles in 2025, including 11.5 for a loss. Marshall hopes to remain healthy this year after missing most of 2025 with a torn ACL. Turner-Bradshaw hopes to better his return numbers from last year when he accumulated 510 yards with an average of 22.5 yards per return.
Offensive lineman Tariq Montgomery, defensive linemen Braydin Ward and Makailin Warren are on the Phil Steele third-team All-Sun Belt.
Marshall opens its 2026 campaign September 5 at Penn State.