Ohio State football names three captains for 2023 season

Ohio State has named linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, tight end Cade Stover and wide receiver Xavier Johnson as its team captains for the coming season.

The selections were announced on Saturday after the Buckeyes held their second preseason intrasquad scrimmage.

Eichenberg and Stover were also voted as captains last season, while Johnson has been picked by teammates for the first time in addition to being the Block O recipient,

Both Eichenberg and Stover were also recognized as "Iron Buckeyes" earlier this month, a distinction for the top performers from offseason strength and conditioning workouts held during the winter and summer months.

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The three of them are in their fifth season and sixth seasons with the program and have made various impacts.

Eichenberg was the Buckeyes’ leading tackler last season, finishing with a total of 120 that marked the most by an Ohio State player in almost a decade. Joshua Perry finished with 124 in 2014.

The 36 receptions by Stover a year ago were also the most a Buckeyes tight end since Rickey Dudley had 37 in 1995.

Johnson, who joined the program as a preferred walk-on in 2018 before later earning a scholarship, caught the go-ahead touchdown in last season’s win over Notre Dame and also filled in at running back as injuries piled up at the position last fall.

They’re all Ohio natives with Eichenberg from Cleveland, Stover from Mansfield and Johnson from Cincinnati.

Kourt Williams, a linebacker in his fourth season who switched positions from safety, was not re-selected as a team captain after being one of six last year. He recently suffered a season-ending knee injury. The other captains from last season have all moved on.

The total of three captains for this year is also the fewest for the Buckeyes since 2009.

Since Ryan Day took over the program, they had selected either six or seven captains for a season, carrying over a practice from Urban Meyer’s tenure.

Meyer had at least six captains in seven out of his seven seasons leading Ohio State, including as many as nine in 2017.

Former coach Jim Tressel’s teams had between two and four captains until selecting six in his final season in 2010.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @joeyrkaufman.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football names three captains for 2023 season