2021 Patrick Mannelly Award Semi-Finalists

Posted on November 15, 2021 by longsnap

This evening, 10 senior FBS long snappers were announced as semi-finalists for the Patrick Mannelly Award. This will be the third season for the Award and the winner will be announced at a live event on Saturday, December 11, 2021 at Bernie’s Book Bank in Lake Bluff, Illinois.

A graphic will the names of the final 10 is below. The definition of “senior” has changed since COVID, as players are allowed to return for another season. However, best efforts were made to limit consideration to those snappers that do not plan to return to school next season. With a number of players returning that had been under consideration last year, the competition to make the list this year was more competitive than ever.

The semi-finalists will be narrowed to the final three on Monday, November 29, 2021. In the meantime, congratulations to all the semi-finalists, those on the Watch List and those that submitted film for our consideration.

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Week Nine in Review

Posted on November 9, 2021 by longsnap

Week Nine brought the second change at the snapping position this season and first due to performance. Steven Wirtel replaced Hunter Bradley in Green Bay. Wirtel had a tough NFL debut, as the kicking operation in Green Bay remained off this week.

Another snapper change may be coming for the Cardinals this week. Veteran Aaron Brewer is expected to miss a few weeks due to a hand injury. Offensive lineman Sean Harlow handled a late snap in Brewer’s absence. Ironically, Bradley had a workout with the Cardinals last week following his departure from the Packers and prior to Brewer’s injury and could be signed to fill in.

Two snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage this week as Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos) and Ross Matiscik (Jaguars) each tallied solo stops.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Nine is below.

2021 Week NineDownload

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Week Eight in Review

Posted on November 2, 2021 by longsnap

Week Eight of the NFL regular season is complete and without any significant injuries or performance concerns at the snapping position. The only snapping change so far was in Tampa Bay after Zack Triner was placed on injured reserve following Week One.

Bears special teams coach Chris Tabor served as head coach this week, replacing Matt Nagy who was unable to coach due to Covid.

The Ravens worked out Beau Brinkley and Rex Sunahara last week as part of a tryout for other specialists. In addition, Eagles snapper Rick Lovato was released after Week Seven in a temporary move for roster space and quickly brought back.

Four snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage this week, all recording solo tackles. They are client Patrick Scales (Bears), Matt Overton (Chargers), Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos) and Andrew DePaola (Vikings).

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Eight is below.

2021 Week EightDownload

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Week Seven in Review

Posted on October 26, 2021 by longsnap

Week Seven was another quiet one at the snapping position. There were no major issues or injuries.

After last week’s game action, three teams had tryouts that included snappers, with Chicago working out Mitchell Fraboni and John Wirtel, Cleveland had Rex Sunahara in and Washington brought in Garrison Sanborn. None were signed. There was also a workout of veteran snappers in Jacksonville yesterday with Sanborn, along with Beau Brinkley and Kameron Canaday.

The Patrick Mannelly Award, given annually to the best senior FBS long snapper, announced its new Mid-Season Top Performer list. The four snappers were Cal Adomitis (Pittsburgh), Damon Johnson (USC), Ross Reiter (Colorado State) and Jordan Silver (Arkansas).

The Award will announce 10 semi-finalists on Monday, November 15th and then the list will be narrowed to three finalists made public on November 29th. The winner will be selected on December 11th. I am honored to be one of the founders of the Award and look forward to it growing each year.

For the second week in a row, just one snapper recorded a tackle in punt coverage. Josh Harris of the Falcons had a solo tackle and now leads the league among snappers with four total tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Seven is below.

2021 Week SevenDownload

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Week Six in Review

Posted on October 19, 2021 by longsnap

Week Six brought more stability to the kicking position after 14 missed field goals and 13 missed extra points last week.

Rich Bisaccia made his debut as the interim Head Coach of the Raiders and won his first game. Bisaccia will continue to coach special teams in Vegas.

There was just one tryout this week, as the Panthers brought in rookie snapper Turner Bernard as part of a punter workout.

Jon Weeks (Texans) recorded the only statistic by a long snapper when he tallied a solo tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Six is below.

2021 Week SixDownload

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Week Five in Review

Posted on October 12, 2021 by longsnap

Week Five was a crazy one for kickers and missed kicks. Heading into Sunday Night Football, kickers missed 12 extra points and 12 field goals. That included an NFL record five missed field goals in the Packers win over the Bengals. While there were no kicking issues Sunday night, the Colts kicker missed two field goals, one of which was blocked, and an extra point last night.

News also broke last night that Jon Gruden of the Raiders was resigning as head coach and that special teams coach Rich Bisaccia would be taking over.

Just one snapper, Garrison Sanborn, has a tryout with the Niners but was not signed.

This week, two snappers were the subject of in-depth media profiles. Ravens snapper Nick Moore was featured in The Athletic by Jeff Zrebiec. While every NFL snapper has an interesting story about how they made it to the NFL, Moore’s is unique because he first played professional baseball. Moore signed a contract with the Red Sox 10 years ago. When he was released, he returned to play football at the University of Georgia and ultimately became a long snapper there. After time in NFL camps and tryouts and a season in the XFL, he made the Ravens practice squad last year and became their full-time snapper this year.

Dennis Young of the New York Daily News wrote about Jets snapper Thomas Hennessy, one of the Jets longest-tenured players and one of their most reliable. In his four seasons, Hennessy has been ranked one of the top long snappers and has never had a blocked punt or kick attempt and not been flagged for a penalty.

Four snappers recorded tackles this week with Matt Orzech (Rams), Christian Kuntz (Steelers) and Moore (Ravens) tallying solo tackles and Andrew DePaola (Vikings) added an assisted tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Five is below.

2021 Week FiveDownload

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Week Four in Review

Posted on October 5, 2021 by longsnap

Week Four was a stable one at the snapping position, with no major issues, injuries or changes.

Two teams conducted snapper tryouts this past week, with the Giants bringing in Kameron Canaday, Kyle Nelson and Drew Scott, while the Patriots had rookies Ryan Langan and Turner Bernard workout. None of the snappers were signed.

Two snappers had tackles in punt coverage this week, as Christian Kuntz (Steelers) had a solo tackle and Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos) recorded an assist. Blake Ferguson of the Dolphins recovered a muffed against the Colts.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Four is below.

2021 Week FourDownload

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Week Three in Review

Posted on September 28, 2021 by longsnap

Week Three in the NFL underscored the importance of special teams and kickers in particular. There were four game-winning kicks and none bigger than Justin Tucker of the Ravens. Tucker set an NFL record with a 66-yard kick as time expired to beat the Lions. Of course, all of the kicks start with the snap and Nick Moore’s short snap to holder Sam Koch was perfect.

Prior to Tucker’s record-setting kick, the Cardinals attempted a 68-yard field goal attempt to end the first half, but Matt Prater’s attempt was short and returned for a touchdown by the Jaguars.

There were a few tryouts this week for snappers, as the Falcons worked out Drew Scott and the Lions brought in veteran Beau Brinkley. Brinkley was later added to the practice squad for the weekend then released.

Two snappers added tackles in punt coverage this week, with Matt Overton of the Chargers recording a solo tackle and Jake McQuaide of the Cowboys an assisted tackle last night.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Three is below.

2021 Week ThreeDownload
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2021 Division One FBS Long Snappers Chart

Posted on September 22, 2021 by longsnap

Longsnap.com is proud to reveal one of the most popular posts every football season.

Below is the chart containing the long snappers for each FBS football team. Sorted by conference, this exclusive compilation includes the snapper’s uniform number, name, height, weight and class year.

A couple of important notes. This list was based on the punt snapper named on each team’s official depth chart for their first game. Some teams, particularly in the the Big Ten, did not reveal their depth charts before the first game, while others have different snappers for punts and placement kicks. Some listed two snappers, so the first name listed was included. In addition, some snappers have taken an extra year of eligibility due to COVID, so the class years are those listed by the school.

If there are any significant errors, please let me know by email at kevingold@longsnap.com.

2021 Division One Long SnappersDownload

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Week Two in Review

Posted on September 21, 2021 by longsnap

Week Two brought the first change at snapper, with veteran Carson Tinker replacing the injured Zach Triner in Tampa Bay. Tinker had not snapped in a regular season game in about three years, although he was on the Giants practice squad last season.

Tinker snapped without incident and it was generally a smooth week for snappers. There was an unusual punt miscue for a touchdown in the Rams game against the Colts. It appears the Rams personal protector was not lined up properly and snapper Matt Orzech’s punt snap hit the personal protector’s hip and went into the end zone, where the Colts recovered it for a touchdown. The Rams did come back to win the game.

Perhaps the biggest snapping news of the week occurred off the field during Patriots Heard Coach Bill Belichick’s weekly press conference. When asked about the importance of a long snapper, Belichick gave a 1,506 word answer that took 9 minutes and 10 seconds to deliver.

In game action, two snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage. Blake Ferguson had a solo tackle for the Dolphins in the “Ferguson Bowl” game against the Bills where his brother Reid is the snapper and Ross Matiscik also had a solo tackle for the Jaguars.

The NFL Long Snapper Chart after Week Two is below.

2021 Week TwoDownload
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