Three Nittany Lions are repeat captains for the 2025 Penn State football team — quarterback Drew Allar, center Nick Dawkins and three-time captain Dom DeLuca — as the Nittany Lions unveiled their leaders on photo day inside Beaver Stadium on Saturday.
Rounding out the five co-captain contingent for the Nittany Lions, ranked No. 2 in The Associated Press preseason poll, are first-time co-captains defensive tackle Zane Durant and long snapper Tyler Duzansky.
The 2024 corps of co-captains included current punter Riley Thompson, and two Nittany Lions now in the NFL: linebacker Kobe King (Minnesota Vikings) and safety Kevin Winston (Tennessee Titans).
Leadership should not be a problem for Penn State, which is coming off a CFP semifinal appearance and a 13-3 record in 2024. They are a veteran team, with 13 senior/senior+ players, as well as 10 redshirt seniors. On the Nittany Lion offense, the top two running backs, the top three wide receivers and the starting tight end are all in their final season — as are Allar, Dawkins, DeLuca, offensive tackle Drew Shelton and defensive standouts Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zakee Wheatley.
Penn State opens its 2025 season at home vs. Nevada on Aug. 30 in Beaver Stadium.
WHY THEY’RE CAPTAINS
Allar: This will be his third season as QB1, with 29 career starts and a 23-6 record (79.3 winning percentage). He’s thrown for 6,302 yards and 53 touchdowns, with only 10 interceptions. He’s also scored 11 rushing TDs. Co-captain in 2024.
Dawkins: Entering his sixth season at Penn State, Dawkins started all 16 games for PSU in 2025. He’s seen as the ultimate team leader, in word and deed. He was the 2024 winner of the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, presented to “the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.” Co-captain in 2024.
DeLuca: He does it all: at linebacker, on nearly every special teams unit, blocking punts (two vs. UMass in 2023), grabbing picks (two vs. SMU, one for a TD) and serving as team spokesman with the media. He wears jersey No. 0, in recognition of his special teams prowess. Co-captain in 2023 and ’24.
Durant: A frequent name this preseason when PSU players were asked who was a vocal leader in the locker room. He has played in 42 games, making 27 starts at defensive tackle.
Duzansky: He has been PSU’s long snapper for 29 consecutive games. A supply chain and information systems major, he understands the process of getting the ball from center to holder to kicker, even when under duress. Franklin likes to have one special teams player among his captains group.
CAPTAIN TIDBITS
REPEATS: DeLuca is a rare three-time co-captain. Franklin has had two four-time team co-captains at PSU, both from 2019-22. They were quarterback Sean Clifford and Jonathan Sutherland — a safety, linebacker and special teams ace.
ANYTHING BUT AVERAGE: In James Franklin’s 12 seasons as head coach at Penn State, he has had from three (three times) to eight (twice) captains in a singular season. The average? 5.5.
STAFF CAPTAINS: Two former Nittany Lion co-captains under Franklin have returned to Happy Valley to coach PSU —assistant cornerback coach Jordan Lucas (2015 co-captain) and assistant quarterback coach Trace McSorley (2017-18).
ISN’T THAT SPECIAL: Duzansky is the second long snapper since Franklin arrived at Penn State in 2014 to be named a co-captain. Chris Stoll in 2022 was the first.
FRANKLIN’S HISTORY OF CAPTAINS
2014 (7) — Miles Dieffenbach, Jesse Della Valle, Sam Ficken, Christian Hackenberg, Mike Hull, Ryan Keiser and CJ Olaniyan
2015 (5) — Christian Hackenberg, Jordan Lucas, Angelo Mangiro, Von Walke and Anthony Zettel
2016 (3) — Brandon Bell, Brian Gaia and Von Walker
2017 (3) — Jason Cabinda, Trace McSorley and Nick Scott
2018 (3) — Blake Gillikin, Trace McSorley and Nick Scott
2019 (8) — Cam Brown, Sean Clifford, Pat Freiermuth, Blake Gillikin, Jan Johnson, Michal Menet, Garrett Taylor and Jonathan Sutherland
2020 (8) — Sean Clifford, Michal Menet, Pat Freiermuth, Jesse Luketa, Jordan Stout, Jonathan Sutherland, Shaka Toney and Lamont Wade
2021 (6) — Jaquan Brisker, Sean Clifford, PJ Mustipher, Jordan Stout, Jonathan Sutherland and Rasheed Walker
2022 (6) — Ji’Ayir Brown, Sean Clifford, PJ Mustipher, Juice Scruggs, Chris Stoll and Jonathan Sutherland
2023 (6) — Dom DeLuca, Keaton Ellis, Olu Fashanu, Adisa Isaac, Malick Meiga and Theo Johnson
2024 (6) — Drew Allar, Nick Dawkins, Dom DeLuca, Kobe King, Riley Thompson and Kevin Winston Jr.
2025 (5) — Drew Allar, Nick Dawkins, Dom DeLuca, Zane Durant, Tyler Duzansky
