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Auburn football names team captains for 2024 season

Justin Hokansonby: Justin Hokanson08/31/24_JHokanson
Auburn QB Payton Thorne
John David Mercer | USA TODAY Sports

AUBURN — Auburn football named its team captains for the 2024 season on Friday. The captains were voted on by their fellow teammates.

Payton Thorne, Eugene Asante, Luke Deal and Jerrin Thompson earned the honor.

Last season, Kam Stutts, Elijah McAllister, Thorne and Deal were named team captains.

This is the fourth time Thorne has been named a team captain during his college career. Twice at Michigan State, and now twice at Auburn. That’s quite an accomplishment to be a 4-time team captain in Power Five/Four football. It’s hard to look up that history, but it’s safe to say very few players have been 4-time team captains in the history of college football.

Deal is now a 2x team captain at Auburn, entering his sixth season of college football after a redshirt season and taking advantage of his additional Covid year of eligibility. Deal has only 14 catches for 110 yards in five seasons, but his impact can be felt far beyond production. There might not be a more respected player on the team than Deal, who recently welcomed into the world a newborn baby with his wife.

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For Asante and Thompson, it’s their first time being named team captain at Auburn.

Asante enters his senior season as the starting middle linebacker or dime back, depending on the defensive formation. With one season to go, Asante has 149 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and five sacks for his career. There might not be a more energetic and infectious player on the Tigers’ team than Asante. He’s pivotal to Auburn’s defensive success.

Thompson arrives to Auburn via the transfer portal after leaving Texas. He enters the season with 176 total tackles and has been constantly praised as one of the best communicators on the team, maybe the best on the defensive side of the football. Being a team captain after transferring into the program certainly speaks to Thompson’s overall impact, much like Thorne being named captain last season.