Eagles announce 6 team captains for the 2021 season

<div> <figure> <img alt="New England Patriots v Philadelphia Eagles" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yDZsHDYlforOyDOY_CVO-UzBxSM=/0x0:4500x3000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69822989/1335163397.0.jpg"> <figcaption>Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images</figcaption> </figure> <p>Looking at the leaders. </p> <p id="pMdVLG">The <a href="https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/">Philadelphia Eagles</a> officially announced six team captains for the 2021 NFL season on Monday afternoon. <a href="https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2020/9/9/21429295/eagles-team-captains-2020-nfl-season-reveal-carson-wentz-fletcher-cox-jason-kelce-peters-mcleod-duke"><strong>Unlike last year</strong></a> when Doug Pederson made eight selections, these captains were voted on by the players. This much according to Nick Sirianni. </p> <p id="sMcOFk">The following players will wear C’s on their uniforms. </p> <h2 id="grqFEj"><strong>2021 Eagles captains</strong></h2> <p id="lyjqem">Jalen Hurts — Starting quarterback</p> <p id="6YQc3i">Jason Kelce — Starting center</p> <p id="R9sS47">Fletcher Cox — Starting defensive tackle</p> <p id="MHkJ07">Brandon Graham — Starting defensive end</p> <p id="VZgjZP">Rodney McLeod — Starting safety</p> <p id="HmobLS">Alex Singleton — Starting linebacker and special teams contributor</p> <hr class="p-entry-hr" id="t0bFJq"> <h2 id="u5Zscm"><strong>OBSERVATIONS AND THOUGHTS</strong></h2> <ul> <li id="aMKmH1">Hardly surprising but nevertheless good to see confirmation of Hurts being respected by his peers. He certainly has good leadership qualities. </li> <li id="aByuFK">Hurts and Singleton will have one gold star under their ‘C’ logos as first-year captains.</li> <li id="82Xmo9">Kelce and Cox will have four gold stars as this marks four years in a row for them. If they’re back in the same roles next season (Cox more likely than Kelce?), their entire captain’s patch (including the ‘C’ itself) will be gold as five-year captains. Cool look. </li> <li id="U8Nl5O">Graham will wear three gold stars as this is his third captaincy in the last five years. Oddly wasn’t a captain during the 2018 and 2019 seasons but was in 2017 and then the past two years.</li> <li id="MpOjGs">McLeod will wear two gold stars as this is the second year in a row he’s a captain. </li> <li id="CmdxFz">A little interesting (depending on your definition of interesting) that the players didn’t vote on a dedicated special teams player as a captain. Singleton will play a lot of special teams (he confirmed as much by saying more playing time equals more playing time bonuses) but he also figures to be one of the main two starting linebackers. </li> <li id="e4CNvl">Six is fewer than last year’s aforementioned total of eight captains but it’s more than the five captains they did from 2017 through 2019. The old format used to be two offense, two defense, and one special teams. The Eagles went lopsided this year with two offense and four defense. </li> <li id="pTgyt5">Experienced veterans who were notably <em>not</em> named captains: Zach Ertz, Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks, Darius Slay, Javon Hargrave, Anthony Harris. </li> <li id="maU5tm">Hargrave has the potential to be a captain in the future. Some other potential future captains: DeVonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Josh Sweat, Jake Elliott.</li> <li id="vRyh1E">Craig James was a special teams captains last year. This year he’s starting the season on the practice squad. </li> <li id="X3UahB">James is one of four captains from last year who aren’t on the Eagles’ Week 1 roster this year. The other ones: Carson Wentz, Jason Peters, and Duke Riley. Wentz is the starting quarterback for the Colts (duh), Peters is the starting left tackle for the Bears, and Riley is a backup linebacker for the <a href="https://www.thephinsider.com/">Dolphins</a>. </li> </ul> </div>