The NFL Combine begins this week and turns the focus of the NFL on the upcoming Draft class.  Josh Harris of Auburn is the only snapper that was selected to the Combine and he is also the top-ranked snapper according to most published rankings.

Pro Football Weekly recently updated its snapper rankings and, after Harris, had Braedyn Eagle (Portland State), Matt Camilli (UTEP), Kyle Wojta (Wisconsin), Nick Guess (Tennessee) and Bryce Davis (Central Oklahoma).  NFL Draft Scout has Harris, Wojta, Guess, Charley Hughlett (Central Florida), Tyson Gale (Marshall), Alex Russian (LSU), James Winchester (Oklahoma) and Camilli for its top eight snappers.  ESPN lists Harris, Guess, Wojta, Aaron Brewer (San Diego State) and Ray Wegrzynek (Kean) in its top five.

Longsnap.com attempts to cover the latest developments in long snapping wherever that may occur.  Recently, it happened in a very unlikely place…the NBA!

Specifically, at the opening tip of the Celtics game against the Lakers in Boston on February 9th, the Celtics long snapped the opening tip.  Jermaine O’Neal won the tip and tapped it back to Kevin Garnett who proceeded to snap it between his legs to Rajon Rondo.

Here is the video of the first instance of long snapping that I can recall in the NBA.

Next month, free agency will commence in the NFL and some snappers will be able to offer their services to other teams. Unrestricted free agent snappers, who can sign with any club, are Ken Amato (Titans), Matt Katula (Vikings), Mike Leach (Cardinals), Chris Massey (Bears), Don Muhlbach (Lions) and Joe Zelenka (Falcons).   JJ Jansen of the Panthers would have been an unrestricted free agent but recently signed a new contract through the 2015 season.  Another snapper, Garrison Sanborn of the Bills, also reached a new deal and will be under contract through 2014.

Every year there are a handful of special teams coaching changes at the end of the NFL season. This year has been no different.  In many cases, a special teams coach simply moves from one team to another.  To date, there have been five coaching changes and one vacancy remains with the Bucs.

Former assistant special teams coaches Marwan Maalouf (Ravens) and John Bonamego (Saints) will coach the Colts and Jaguars, respectively.  Tom McMahon (Rams) will coach the Chiefs, John Fassel (Raiders) moves to the Rams and Steve Hoffman (Chiefs) goes to the Raiders.

Objectively ranking long snappers is an admittedly difficult task, but there are some well-respected ways to measure special teams units as a whole.  Two of the better sources are the annual rankings done by Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News and those calculated by the statistical analysis web site Football Outsiders.

Gosselin recently released his annual rankings that are based on 22 different kicking categories for which teams are assigned points from one for being the best and 32 for being the lowest.  This year’s top unit was the 49ers, who totaled 225.5 points, five ahead of the Dolphins who finished second with 230.5.  The Bears, Titans and Patriots round out the top five.  The Panthers were ranked last, with the Lions, Chiefs, Vikings and Colts finishing above them.

Football Outsiders bases its analysis on how many points a special teams unit generates compared to the league average in five categories.  The categories are field goals/extra points, kickoffs, kick returns, punts and punt returns.  The Bears finished first this year, followed by the 49ers. Titans, Jets and Patriots.  The Panthers were last, followed by the Colts, Ravens, Lions and Rams.

The snappers for the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl are now set.  Rookie Danny Aiken will snap for the Patriots, while Zak DeOssie will handle snaps for the Giants in the Super Bowl.

In the Pro Bowl, Jon Condo of the Raiders will snap for the AFC squad, while Brian Jennings of the 49ers will handle snaps for the NFC.  Both were added to their teams as “need” players and it is the second Pro Bowl appearance for both players.

A number of college snappers have been selected to play one more game to gain additional exposure to pro scouts.  In addition to the Senior Bowl snappers, Josh Harris (Auburn) and Kyle Wojta (Wisconsin), other snappers that earned post-season invitations include Charley Hughlett (Central Florida) and Chris Ivory (Miami) snapping in The Battle of Florida, James Winchester (Oklahoma) and Cameron Kastl (Arizona State) in the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game and Jon Rohrbaugh (Penn State) and Matt Camilli (UTEP) in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Giants and 49ers has thrust snapper Trey Junkin back in the headlines.  Nine years ago, the Giants brought the veteran snapper out of retirement to snap in the Wild Card game between the same clubs.  Junkin, who spent 19 seasons at the top of his profession, had two bad snaps in the game, including one at the end of the game on a field goal attempt that would have won the game for the Giants.

Junkin’s story is one that is still discussed from time to time when long snappers are mentioned and this weekend’s playoff rematch has created an even more compelling reason for the events of that day to be retold.  To his credit, Junkin has always faced the issue head on and accepted his responsbility for the snaps.

Kevin Armstrong of the New York Daily News did an extensive story this week on the events of that day and how Junkin deals with it now.   Junkin admits that he still thinks about the snaps “every day.”

Lonie Paxton has officially been ruled out of tomorrow’s playoff game against the Patriots and the Broncos have added veteran snapper David Binn.  Paxton has been dealing with a personal family matter.  Binn spent 17 seasons with the Chargers before losing his job to Mike Windt in August.

As the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs approaches this weekend, there is one big question mark at the snapping position.  Lonie Paxton of the Broncos has been absent from the last two practices due to personal reasons and his ability to snap this weekend is now in question.  As a result, the Broncos worked out veteran snapper Jason Kyle and rookie Andrew Schulze today.  In last weekend’s Wild Card round, snappers Clark Harris (Bengals) and Jonathan Weeks (Texans) each recorded a solo tackle.

Certain teams have also made some snapping decisions for next season by signing players to reserve/future contracts.  Scott Albritton and Corey Adams have signed with the Falcons, while Jake Ingram signed with the Titans.  The 49ers added Kyle Nelson who plays a number of positions in addition to having long snapping ability.