The Detroit Lions have named their six captains for the 2023 season, as voted on by the players themselves: quarterback Jared Goff, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, offensive tackle Penei Sewell, linebacker Alex Anzalone, edge defender Charles Harris and special teamer Jalen Reeves-Maybin.
Goff and Anzalone both return for their third consecutive year as team captains. Reeves-Maybin is also a return captain, re-assuming the special teams role he had in 2021 before spending last season with the Houston Texans.
Interestingly, Sewell becomes the team’s third current offensive lineman to have served as a team captain. Frank Ragnow had been the captain for the past two years, while Taylor Decker was a captain before that.
“I think it’s an outstanding core group of guys that do it the right way and they all pretty much lean on each other,” coach Dan Campbell said of the offensive line. “So it says a lot. I feel like we’re in a really good place with our leadership here. I really do.”
That leaves just St. Brown and Harris, both first-time captains for the team. For the past two years, St. Brown has been a model worker on the practice field, and it has yielded a couple of extremely productive seasons. Last year, St. Brown caught 106 passes for 1,161 yards and six touchdowns on the way to his first Pro Bowl.
Harris, who re-signed with the team in 2022 after a 7.5-sack season in Detroit. Earlier this week, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn explained why he’s so important to the team.
“He’s quiet, but when he speaks, people listen, and that’s the good thing about Charles,” Glenn said. “And when you go out there and watch him practice, man, it’s all out every time.”
