Longsnap.com

The Longsnap.com blog now features two new pages.  The first, entitled Publications, includes a link to the book called “FOOTBALL Rising to the Challenge: The Transition from College to Pro”.  My chapter is entitled “Representing Players on the Fringe: An Agent’s Perspective”.  If you are interested in an excellent book that can help aspiring football players learn more about the challenges they face when trying to make it in the professional football ranks, this book is for you.

The second page is entitled Social Networking and contains links to my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts for those who may be interested in additional ways of maintaining contact.

It is never too early to start talking about long snapping prospects for the 2010 NFL Draft, except that a number of sources have indicated that the two NFL scouting services, National Football Scouting and BLESTO, did not include any snappers in its pre-season reports.

Chad Reuter, who is a Senior Analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, has three snappers he has identified so far with pro potential.  They are, in current order of ranking, Clint Gresham (TCU), Jack Geiser (Boston College) and Mike Windt (Cincinnati).  Reuter always does an excellent job of college talent evaluation and, more importantly, also makes sure he gives adequate attention to snappers in his rankings.

In somewhat of an unexpected move, the Saints released nine-year veteran snapper Kevin Houser yesterday and signed fourteen-year veteran Jason Kyle to replace him.  Kyle spent the last eight seasons with the Panthers.

The Carolina Panthers reduced their logjam at snapper by waiving Pat MacDonald.  MacDonald was in camp with the Saints last year and was one of three snappers attempting to win the Panthers’ snapping job left vacant after they did not re-sign unrestricted free agent Jason Kyle.  Fomer Packers snapper JJ Jansen, who was  acquired in an off-season trade, and rookie free agent Nick Sundberg remain.  The NFL Long Snappers chart has also been updated.

The Kansas City Chiefs waived Thomas Gafford, leaving rookie Tanner Purdum as the only snapper on the roster.  Gafford filled-in for the injured JP Darche last year to finish the season for the Chiefs.  The Bengals also waived rookie snapper James Smith from Florida, leaving just a handful of teams with snapping competition heading into training camp.  The NFL Long Snappers chart has been updated to reflect the latest moves.