Alabama has been one of the most successful college football programs in the country and perhaps their recent tradition of scholarship long snappers may be a key element to their success.  Sam Borden of The New York Times suggests as much in his recent story discussing their newest long snapping recruit, Thomas Fletcher.

Fletcher will be a freshman next year and will likely replace senior Cole Mazza, who was the first Alabama snapper to get a full scholarship.  Fletcher, who is the top ranked snapper in the country, joins a long list of other top-rated recruits at Alabama for 2017.

Borden’s story does a nice job summarizing the importance of the snapper and their “self-critical” nature as “perfectionists.”