With the season opener just around the corner, Duke head football coach David Cutcliffe released the names of the captains for the upcoming season. Anthony Boone, Kelby Brown, Jeremy Cash, Jamison Crowder and Laken Tomlinson were selected by their peers to lead the team for the year.
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Boone is the only captain to retaining his position from last season. He broke a record last season for being the first signal caller in the history of the Duke program to 10 wins. His talent on the field also put him on the all-time charts for the Blue Devils. He had a passing completion percentage of 64 percent, the third-best in school history. Things are looking up for the senior quarterback as he has been named to the preseason watch list for three different awards: the Manning Award, Maxwell Award and O’Brien Award.
Despite being out for the season with a knee injury, Brown was still selected as a captain. Before suffering the injury, Brown was the returning starter at Mike linebacker. This season was set to be a good season for Brown, as he was named to the preseason watch list for five different awards: the Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, Lombardi Award, Nagurski Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy. Nothing has been released if Brown will petition the NCAA for sixth year of eligibility, but don’t be surprised if it happens.
Cash is the lone non-senior on this season’s captains squad. The redshirt junior is the returning starter at Strike safety. He saw the most action out of any player in a Duke uniform last season, being on the field for 1,120 snaps during conference play. During all of his time on the field, Cash recorded 121 tackles. Cash has been tabbed to many different preseason watch lists: the Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy and Thorpe Award, in addition to the Athlon Sports, ESPN, Lindy’s, Phil Steele and USA Today All-ACC teams.
2013 All-America and All-ACC selection, Crowder is the fourth captain on the list this season. Crowder is garnering national attention for the upcoming season. He’s been named to four different preseason All-America teams and has been added to four different preseason award watch lists. He’s looking to expand on his record-breaking season from last year. He grabbed 108 passes, setting the Duke single season record for that statistic category. He also matched or broke several other Blue Devil records as well. He ended last season with 1,360 receiving yards, averaged 7.79 receptions per game, had 14 games with multiple catches, 13 games with at least five passes caught, four contests with over 10 receptions, seven 100-yard receiving contests and two punt returns for scores.
Last but not least for the 2014 captains is Tomlinson. Like Crowder, Tomlinson helped the Duke squad accomplish new single-season records. The returning starter at right guard was part of the offensive team that set those new records in total first downs with 298, total offensive yards with 5,966, and points with 459. He was named to the ESPN All-Bowl Team after his game in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. As for this season, he’s been named to two different preseason All-America teams and was placed on watch lists for the Lombardi Award and the Outland Trophy.