Miami Dolphins name 2016 team captains

Now just days away from the start of the regular season the Miami Dolphins have named their team captains for the 2016-17 campaign.

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Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, center Mike Pouncey, safety Reshad Jones, defensive Cameron Wake and defensive back Michael Thomas have all been named captains for the upcoming season.

These captain choices come as little surprise to Dolphins fans as they’ve been leaders on the team for the past few seasons.  Also not surprised is first year head coach Adam Gase.

Via Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post:

"“Those are the guys that are always either approaching me or you could always see them working with younger guys, so I guess I wasn’t really surprised by who was voted in,” Gase said."

Tannehill and Pouncey are both veterans on the offensive side of the ball.  Tannehill, entering his 5th season in the league, is the sure bet to be named captain.  He’s been the starting quarterback in South Florida since the day he stepped in the facility as a rookie.  Pouncey, now in his sixth year, has also been a leader on an offensive line in flux in recent years.

On the defensive side of the ball both Wake and Jones are two of the best players at their respective position.  Wake, recovering from an achilles injury last season, is second in Dolphins history with 70 sacks.  Jones made his first pro bowl last year in his sixth season in the league.

Thomas, named a special teams captain, is one of the hardest workers on the team.  He’s been a role player within the organization since 2014.

As Gase stated, the Dolphins captains will be the players the younger – and older – players will look up to as they fight to supplant the New England Patriots at the top of the AFC East.

In case you aren’t familiar with how the captain patches work in the NFL, here are a couple tips to follow:

• Stars on the patch highlight the number of consecutive years they’ve been voted a captain.
• If the “C” is gold on the players jersey that means they’ve been voted captain 4+ years.