The Wake Forest football team has announced the captains for the 2021 season.
The six team captains for the upcoming season are redshirt senior tight end Brandon Chapman, redshirt senior defensive lineman Miles Fox, redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Hartman, redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Michael Jurgens, redshirt senior defensive back Luke Masterson and senior defensive back Ja'Sir Taylor.
The 2021 captains have helped lead the Demon Deacons to a program-record five consecutive bowl games along with capturing the eighth Big 4 Championship in Wake Forest history in 2019.
Four of the five Deac captains return from a season ago as Chapman, Hartman, Masterson and Taylor all head into their second seasons as the leaders of the team.
Chapman started all nine games at tight end in 2020, reeling in five passes for a total of 65 yards, good for a career-high 13 yards per catch. Against Wisconsin in the Duke's Mayo Bowl, Wake Forest's fifth-straight bowl game, Chapman caught a pair of passes for 40 yards, including a career-long 25-yard reception.
In his career, Chapman has suited up in 45 games for the Demon Deacons.
In his first full season on the field with the Demon Deacons, Fox turned into a star in the middle of the Wake Forest defensive line. He led the Deacs with 10.5 tackles for loss en route to earning First Team All-ACC honors from the Associated Press.
A nominee for the Piccolo Award, the ACC Comeback Player of the Year, Fox had a breakout performance against Louisville when he recorded a career-high 4.0 tackles for loss, earning him ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
A 2020 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List member, Hartman goes into the 2021 season with 5,038 career passing yards, ranking eighth in program history. Additionally, he ranks in the top 10 in program history in passing touchdowns, completions, attempts and passing efficiency where he ranks third with a career 132.77 rating.
After a record setting performance against North Carolina in 2020, he became one of three Wake Forest quarterbacks with multiple four-plus touchdown games (John Wolford, Riley Skinner). Last season, he held a streak of 258 passes without throwing an interception dating back to the 2019 season, a Wake Forest program record and the fifth longest in ACC history.
Jurgens is set to enter his second season in the middle of the Wake Forest offensive line. The 2020 Rimington Trophy Watch List member started eight games at center a season ago. It marked his first season as a starter for the famed #BeefBoys.
He is one of two first-time captains heading into the season as he is joined by Miles Fox.
Over the course of Masterson's career, he has been one of the most versatile players on the Demon Deacon defense.
Over his time in Winston-Salem, the Naples, Fla. native has started 17 games coming across three different positions (linebacker, safety and rover). This season he is transitioning from safety to linebacker. In total, he has played in 35 career games with 138 career tackles including 91 solo tackles.
This marks his sixth season playing for the Demon Deacons. He is one of nine players for the Deacs that used their extra COVID year of eligibility to come back and play their final season in 2021.
Taylor has played in all 48 games in his Wake Forest career, starting all nine games in 2020. Over his four seasons on campus, he has totaled 125 career tackles with 106 solo tackles including a career-best 34 in 2020.
Taylor has tallied four career interceptions all coming in the last two seasons while also stepping into a leadership role amongst one of the younger secondaries in the country in 2020.