ESSENDON expects it will become clear by the middle of January who its potential captain is for 2017.

Bombers coach John Worsfold said the players' views would play a large part in the eventual decision and those would become clear during training over the next two months.

Essendon's 2015 captain Jobe Watson remains among the potential candidates along with Dyson Heppell and last year's skipper Brendon Goddard.

Worsfold said the season-long ban to 12 senior players had given other players the chance to develop their leadership skills during 2016 and deepened the list of leaders.

Despite conceding that Watson had struggled in his first week back at training after his decision to hand back the 2012 Brownlow Medal, Worsfold has not ruled the 31-year-old out of the captaincy mix, with the club confident he will line up against Hawthorn in round one.

"Jobe will always be a leader because he is naturally a leader; whether he takes the mantle as captain or not he will still lead the way in so many areas," Worsfold said.

"I can't predict where Jobe will be at mentally in six to eight weeks. He may be flying and loving it and seeing stuff that he says, 'I reckon I'm the best person to lead this club on and off field again'."

Worsfold heaped praise on both last season's leadership group and the players in the pre-ban group.

"I'm no genius. I'm not going to predict the way the players see each other, what they feel, what they are noticing," Worsfold said.

"They will tell us in the middle of January when we go through the process to sound them out of what they expect of each other."

Bombers football manager Rob Kerr said no timeline had been set on when a decision would be made on the captaincy.  

"[We're] giving this group the opportunity to find their new normal," Kerr said.

Essendon is one of a number of clubs with a decision to make on its captaincy in 2017, with North Melbourne and St Kilda certain to appoint new captains and the Brisbane Lions not guaranteeing incumbent Tom Rockliff the job next season.