Michigan Wolverines Name Captains for 'Team 145'

© Melanie Maxwell / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Michigan Wolverines have voted and named their captains for the 2024 season. Keeping with the Wolverines' tradition of players selecting team captains, each player voted for two teammates on offense and defense. On Aug. 22, the defending College Football Playoff National Champions announced that and senior running back Donovan Edwards, senior fullback Max Bredeson, senior Safety Rod Moore and graduate student safety  Makari Paige, had been elected to lead "Team 145"during the 2024 season.

Linebacker Josaiah Stewart and running back Kalel Mullings will serve as alternate captains.

While at the Big Ten Conference Media Days in Indianapolis in July, Bredeson at B1G media days was asked about who had been stepping up as leaders so and he pointed out Edwards and Stewart, specifically. Edwards and Paige also appeared at media days so it should come as no surprise that three of them were voted as captains.

Michigan had six captains last season, Micheal Barrett, Mike Sainristil, Blake Corum, Kris Jenkins, Trevor Keegon and Zak Zinter. All six will be playing on Sundays this season leaving the four new captains with big shoes to fill. The "Team 145" captains are now expected to continue to build on the culture of winning and leadership from a year ago.

'The Don'

Edwards is a Michigan native coming to Ann Arbor from West Bloomfield. Edwards has been a constant name fans have heard since he arrived at Michigan. He will be the feature back for the first time in his career and has lofty expectations after being featured on the cover of EA Sports College Football 25. 

After a disappointing 2023 regular season, Edwards showcased his big-play ability when the lights were the brightest in the 2023 National Championship Game. Edwards broke off two 40-plus yard runs for touchdowns in the first half to help Michigan win their first national championship since 1997. Now Michigan fans will hope that Edwards can replace Corum and will lead Michigan on another deep playoff run in 2024.  

Walk On to Captain

The Bredeson name is starting to become a tradition of being named captain at Michigan. Max now joins his brother Ben who was named captain in 2017-18. Ben was named captain in 2017 despite not being a senior, which is something that doesn’t happen often at Michigan. Now Max will follows in his brother's footsteps and become one of the vocal leaders in 2024. 

Max, a former walk-on, was a Burlsworth Trophy nominee in 2023. The award is given out to an outstanding player who started their career as a walk-on. Max is not a player who will dazzle you by highlight-reel plays but does all the little things to make the offense better. His contribution might go unnoticed by fans, but his teammates and coaches see just how important he is making it no surprise he was voted captain.

Moore Still a Captain

Moore will always be remembered by fans for his comment on "calling game" in the 2023 Ohio State win.  With Ohio State driving and down six, Moore would come up with a game-sealing interception. When asked about the play after the game Moore said someone had to "call game." A comment that will go down in Michigan history  

Moore sustained a knee injury early in spring and will most likely be out for the season but that didn’t stop his teammates from voting him a captain. That is a testament to just how much Moore's teammates think of him.

Since arriving at Michigan Moore has started in 27 games and appeared in 37. He was a two-time all-Big Ten selection in 2023. Moore was a key member of a Michigan defense that was one of the best in the country last season. In 2023, he recorded 38 tackles and 2 interceptions. Moore was expected to be a key contributor on defense in 2024 but because of his injury will instead be one of the main vocal leaders.

Paige’s Time

Like Edwards, Paige is a Michigan native who headed to Ann Arbor from West Bloomfield. Since getting to Michigan Paige has started 20 games at safety but has appeared in 41 games on both defense and special teams. With Moore out Paige will be looked upon to be one of the difference makers on defense in the secondary. With more than 300 snaps played last season, Paige returns as one of the most experienced players on Michigan's defense, and Michigan will need it with a number of new starters around him.

In 2023, Paige started 13 games where he only allowed 8 catches on 14 targets. Paige had  41 tackles (17 solo), 2 pass breakups and a fumble recovery.  The question is can Paige help to make up for the loss of talent in the secondary from a year ago?

"Team 145" now has the men who will lead them into battle. The goal is simple—win a national championship.

“Team 145 has really done a really good job up to this point in taking the necessary steps to be elite, to do all the things that we set out to do," Moore said at the B1G Media Days. "Win the big games, beat our rivals, beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten, go to College Football Playoff and win it.”

Now it will be up to these four to lead them to accomplish these goals.