James Franklin named the 2019 captains on Saturday. They come with a wide range of experience from experienced veterans to inexperienced players filled with potential. In all, Franklin named eight players as his captains. Here they are:

• Blake Gillikin P
• Cam Brown LB
• Garrett Taylor DB
• Jonathan Sutherland DB
• Jan Johnson LB
• Pat Freiermuth TE
• Michal Menet OL
• Sean Clifford QB

Gillikin is no surprise, as he was a captain in 2018. Brown, Johnson, and Taylor are also obvious choices as they are experienced senior starters on the defense. Menet is also an experienced starter at center and makes a lot of sense for an offensive captain.

However, Freiermuth, as productive as he was in 2018, is just a sophomore. Sutherland is also only a sophomore and Clifford is the new starting QB and has not started a game yet. Despite the inexperience of these three, Franklin named them captains for a reason. I think these are all players Franklin sees as the core of his team and that’s why he named them his 2019 captains.