Utes on the rise: Cornerback Faybian Marks
With the 2021 Utah Football season now fully in the rearview mirror and spring ball just around the corner, it's time to reflect and review on the notable performances from the season. While players like Cameron Rising, Tavion Thomas, Devin Lloyd and Nephi Sewell made a lot of the big plays and helped lead the team to their first ever Pac-12 Championship, there were a handful of younger players who made notable contributions and are certainly on the rise for 2022.
The following is a recap and analysis of freshman Faybian Marks, his 2021 contributions, and what potential may lie in store.
A three-star recruit out of high school, Marks could certainly be classified as a college-ready athlete who was overlooked in high school but has excelled in Utah’s system. With 12 total offers, Marks attracted the attention of programs such as Baylor, Hawaii, Kansas and Pac-12 foe Washington State before choosing Utah.
While Marks did appear in all five games during the 2020 campaign, it wasn’t until 2021 where Marks was provided an opportunity to demonstrate his impressive potential. After JT Broughton went down early in the year, Marks stepped into his starting role and the secondary didn’t skip a beat.
As the season came to a close, Marks recorded 25 tackles (12th most on the team) and two pass break-ups in just 10 games with seven starts. From these contributions Marks strung together notable performances such as six solo stops against Washington State, three tackles against Oregon State and a career-high eight tackles against Arizona State, seven of which came in the first half and included one pass break-up.
“It was more like a stay ready so you don’t gotta get ready moment. I just always practice hard so when my number was called I was ready to go,” Marks said in an interview last season.
Before Marks went down with injury against Arizona late in the year, he was arguably one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2021 campaign. Utilizing his speed and explosiveness, Marks locked down the secondary and demonstrated a high-level of physicality as he recorded the sixth-most tackles amongst the secondary in just 10 appearances.
As for the future, Marks certainly established himself as a starting talent and very well could compete for a starting position, or at least a good portion of the snaps at a minimum this fall. With his speed and explosiveness, ability to quickly change direction and a willingness to become physical and make tackles, Marks will resume a starting role at some point in the near future and will be a valuable asset to the defense.
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