NFL Pro Bowl Long Snappers Now Chosen by Fan Vote

Posted on November 18, 2020 by longsnap

Since 2004, the NFL Pro Bowl has included a long snapper on each team. Until last year, the two snappers were selected by each coaching staff, with the limitation that they who could not select their own team’s snapper.

Things changed last season, when all the current long snappers got together and decided to vote amongst themselves to choose the Pro Bowl snappers. That process led to Morgan Cox (Ravens) representing the AFC and Rick Lovato (Eagles) chosen for the NFC squad.

Fan voting has just started for the Pro Bowl for the 2020 season and now the fans will get to choose the snappers just like they do for every other position in the game.

Of course, because it is 2020, this year’s Pro Bowl will be a virtual event, but it will still be very interesting to see the snappers that are chosen by popular vote. While I liked last year’s process to leave it up to current NFL snappers to choose the best two, the fact that snappers have earned the right to be voted on like every other position is still a positive development for the brand.

The long snappers on the ballot are listed, with photos, here: https://www.nfl.com/pro-bowl/ballot/special-teams/ls/

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Week Ten in Review

Posted on November 17, 2020 by longsnap

Week Ten of the NFL season is complete and was an uneventful one for snappers until last night. Vikings snapper Austin Cutting, who has struggled at times the past few weeks and even spent time on the COVID reserve list earlier in the week, had a poor short snap on a extra point attempt against the Bears on Monday Night Football. Fortunately, the missed extra point did not factor in the outcome, but Cutting got the national attention no snapper ever wants to receive.

This week, the Vikings worked out John Wirtel and, later,, Andrew DePaola in case Cutting could not return from the COVID list. It is unclear if the Vikings plan to make a more permanent move to address the snapping issue.

Matt Overton handled all the snaps for the Titans again this week, but the team is expected to use Matt Orzech going forward. Orzech is on the 53 man roster, but was not active this week.

Two snappers, Reid Ferguson (Bills) and Cole Mazza (Chargers), each had solo tackles in punt coverage this week.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Ten is below.

2020 Week TenDownload

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Week Nine in Review

Posted on November 10, 2020 by longsnap

Week Nine of the NFL season is complete and saw the Titans move on from veteran snapper Beau Brinkley.

Brinkley, who had been the highest-paid long snapper by most metrics, suffered from COVID earlier in the season and struggled with his snapping following his return. The Titans had another veteran, Matt Overton, on its practice squad and activated him for Sunday’s win against the Bears.

Overton is expected to return to the practice squad again, as the Titans claimed second year snapper Matt Orzech off the Dolphins practice squad. To replace Orzech on the practice squad, the Dolphins signed rookie Rex Sunahara.

In other game action, the Lions blocked two Vikings punts and three snappers, client Patrick Scales (Bears), Luke Rhodes (Colts) and Zach Triner (Bucs), each added solo tackles in punt coverage.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Nine is below.

2020 Week NineDownload

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2020 FBS Long Snappers Chart

Posted on November 5, 2020 by longsnap

Longsnap.com is proud to present its exclusive compilation of the long snappers for each Division One FBS college football team that is playing during the 2020 season. This year’s list was delayed by the unusual college football season and staggered team starts. To be consistent, I used the punt snapper from each team’s first game, so there may be a few changes since that time for some teams.

The list includes uniform number, name, height, weight and class year.  Only punt snappers are listed, as some teams still use a dedicated punt snapper and a separate kick snapper.

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

2020 Division One Long SnappersDownload
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Week Eight in Review

Posted on November 3, 2020 by longsnap

Week Eight of the NFL season is complete and while the pandemic continues to impact teams, all games were played. Beau Brinkley of the Titans continues to struggle on short snaps as did the usually reliable Luke Rhodes of the Colts this week.

The Packers were the only team to workout any snappers this week and hosted Colin Holba and Joe Fortunato.

Teams are punting less this year and that leads to less opportunities for punt returns and tackles. Don Muhlbach of the Lions was the only snapper to record a tackle stat this week, adding an assisted tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Eight is below.

2020 Week EightDownload

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Week Seven in Review

Posted on October 27, 2020 by longsnap

Week Seven of the NFL season is compete and was a quiet one at the snapping position. Since returning from the COVID reserve list, Titans snapper Beau Brinkley has struggled but there were no other major snapping issues around the league. Although the Titans have veteran snapper Matt Overton on the practice squad, I expect the Titans will give Brinkley more time to work out the issues.

Three snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage, with rookies Jacob Bobenmoyer (Broncos) and Ross Matiscik (Jaguars) adding solo tackles, while Hunter Bradley (Packers) had an assisted tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Seven is below.

2020 Week SevenDownload
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Week Six in Review

Posted on October 20, 2020 by longsnap

Week Six of the NFL season is complete and, while COVID has impacted team practice schedules and the precise order of the weekly game schedule, all games were played this week without any issues.

Heading into this week’s action, I tweeted a Wall Street Journal story about snappers at the college and NFL level being the “most essential” workers during the pandemic. The article mentioned how college teams, like USF and Austin Peay, have been decimated by injuries and COVID issues at the snapping position.

Also of note in the story were some interesting statistics that I had never seen before, For example, in the NFL, over the past 10 season heading into Week Six, there were 42,417 snaps. Of those, according to Stats LLC, just 40 of those were bad enough to prevent a kick, or 0.09%. Even in college, since 2012, just 259, or .20% of the 132,998 snaps, were bad enough to prevent a punt or kick attempt.

Teams continue to prepare for the potential loss of a snapper this season by working out snappers. The Bengals brought in Dan Godsil, who has prior camp experience with the team, and the Saints hosted veteran snappers Andrew DePaola and John Denney.

Four snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage this week, led by Rick Lovato of the Eagles, who has two assisted tackles for the second consecutive week. Luke Rhodes (Colts), Charley Hughlett (Browns) and Thomas Hennessy (Jets) each had solo tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Six is below.

2020 Week SixDownload

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Week Five in Review

Posted on October 13, 2020 by longsnap

Week Five, except for one game, is now complete. Tonight will be a rare Tuesday game between the Bills and Titans that was delayed by a COVID outbreak with the Titans.

The Titans should have Beau Brinkley back to snap tonight, as he has been reinstated to the roster after being placed on the COVID list. As a precaution, the Titans worked out veteran snappers Matt Overton and Colin Holba and just added Overton to the practice squad.

The only other snapper to have a tryout this week was Andrew DePaola who worked out for the Bears.

The San Francisco Chronicle did a nice story on new Niners snapper Taybor Pepper and how he is a model of perseverance. Like many NFL snappers, Pepper has bounced around for a few seasons, from team to team and tryout to tryout. He has signed five contracts and had eight tryouts, but is now set to snap for the Niners this season and perhaps beyond

Heading into Week Five, punts were at an all-time low, averaging about 3.46 punts per game. Through four weeks, there had been a total of 436 punts, well behind the pace of 2019 (559 punts) and 2018 (584 punts).

The Falcons are the first team to change special teams coaches this year after also firing their head coach and general manager after Sunday’s loss to the Panthers. Bernie Parmalee has replaced Ben Kotwica.

On the tackle front, Rick Lovato (Eagles) has two assisted tackles, Zach Triner (Buccaneers) added a solo tackle and Morgan Cox (Ravens) had an assisted tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after (most) of Week Five is below and any tackles in tonight’s game by a snapper will be included in next week’s News and Notes.

2020 Week FiveDownload

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Veterans Snappers Have an Advantage This Season

Posted on October 9, 2020 by longsnap

This is an NFL season unlike any other due to the global pandemic. COVID impacted the NFL Draft immediately and, for snappers, limited the opportunities for rookies and younger players. One snapper was drafted and just a few others signed as undrafted free agents. The absence of mini-camp tryouts also hurt snappers looking to gain critical exposure and experience.

Because COVID has impacted the snapping position, four teams have kept a snapper on the practice squad, including Carson Tinker who is on the Giants practice squad after last snapping in an NFL game in October, 2018. New tryout rules will require six days of testing before a player workout, making it even harder to replace an injured or sick snapper.

All of this means that veteran unemployed snappers are benefitting from these unique circumstances. Among the snappers who have gotten multiple workouts since the season started are Andrew DePaola (last NFL game Week 1, 2018), Colin Holba (last NFL game Week 17 2019), Garrison Sanborn (last NFL game Week 7, 2019) and Matt Overton (last NFL game Week 17, 2018).

While NFL teams like to develop younger snappers when they can, this year may not be the best year to do that. Thus, it is likely that any future openings will find NFL teams giving the more experienced snappers the first chance to fill it.

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Week Four in Review

Posted on October 6, 2020 by longsnap

Week Four of the NFL season saw the first snapping change, as the Niners released Kyle Nelson following a rough Week Three performance. Taylor Pepper, who snapped for the Dolphins last season, won a tryout battle for the job that also included Andrew DePaola, Garrison Sanborn and Drew Scott.  Peppers snapped well in his Niners debut on Sunday Night Football.

The Titans may need to add a snapper this week, as Beau Brinkley was one of the original COVID cases that impacted multiple teammates. The Titans game with the Steelers this week was postponed and, at this time, it is unclear if Brinkley can play this coming Sunday against the Bills.

Just one snapper, Thomas Hennessy (Jets), had a tackle in punt coverage this week. Hennessy’s solo tackle makes him the first snapper with multiple tackles this season.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Four is below.

2020 Week FourDownload
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