Trace McSorley, Nick Scott, and Blake Gillikin will serve as Penn State’s captains for the 2018 season, the program announced Saturday.

"These three have been leaders for us in the locker room, on the field and in the classroom. This team will continue to make great strides under their leadership.” @coachjfranklin announces @McSorley_IX, @NittanyKidNick2 & @blakegillikin as 2018 Team Captains!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/eVjAsTExQ5

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) April 14, 2018

McSorley and Scott resume their captaincy roles from last year, while Gillikin earned the title for the first time following a pair of outstanding seasons as one of the Big Ten’s best punters.

After naming three captains during spring ball last season, the Nittany Lions added five more in August. For now, this group will be tasked with holding their teammates accountable heading into the Blue-White game on April 21 and summer workouts.

With two years of starting experience under his belt, McSorley has a chance to completely rewrite Penn State’s record books at the quarterback position as a senior. Scott started his career at running back and has been an ace special teams contributor since switching to defense prior to the 2016 season. James Franklin said Scott and Garrett Taylor are currently penciled in to start at safety.

“You could make the argument Nick Scott is the best athlete that we have on our team from a testing perspective,” Franklin said at the beginning of spring practice.

This offseason, Scott tallied the highest “T-score” of anyone on the team, which factors in power clean, squat, bench press, vertical jump, 40-yard dash, and body weight.

Gillikin has averaged 43 yards per punt his first two years on campus, proving himself an extremely valuable part of Penn State’s recent success. Now that Tyler Davis has graduated, Gillikin is also competing for the vacant kickoff specialist job and potentially even placekicker should incoming freshman Jake Pinegar need some time to develop.