Notre Dame Football Names Five Captains for 2024 Season

On a team full of leaders, five players emerged from the group as captains for the Irish this campaign.

Sep 30, 2023; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Benjamin Morrison (20) looks on before the first half of the game against Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports / Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday, Notre Dame released its 2024 team captains. Most were expected, in a team full of strong leaders, there was a real case to be made for another 4-5 players to also be named captains of the team.

Quarterback Riley Leonard, defensive tackle Riley Mills, linebacker Jack Kiser, cornerback Benjamin Morrison and safety Xavier Watts ended up being the choices, and its hard to argue that any of the five did not deserve captaincy.

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2024 Captain Benjamin Morrison from Phoenix, Arizona #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/DJcCmpv7Y5

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 18, 2024

The only real potential omissions are Mitchell Evans and Howard Cross. Both are proven stars for Notre Dame and have shown their own leadership qualities in unique ways. Evans and Cross are not the most outspoken, which potentially hurt their captaincy claims, but both are deserving.

In Cross' case, one would have to imagine in a year where there aren't four other captains on defense, he would be one. Five captains out of eleven guys on defense is a lot and it seems that is potentially where the line was crossed.

For Evans, his injury last season may have hurt him both physcically and for captaincy. Being around in the weight room and on the field is crucial and unfortuantely for him, he wasn't able to do much of that over the last 9-10 months.

Ultimately there likely should have been another captain on offense next to Riley Leonard and Evans is the sensible pick in a year where there is not a standout leader on the offensive line or receiver.

Lastly, there was a legitimate shout for Devyn Ford to be a captain, specifcally for the role he is set to play on special teams for the Irish this fall. His leadership and selflessness alone that he has shown in his time in South Bend should be rewarded, but it does make sense to draw the line at five captains.

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