Week One in Review

As usual, it was an exciting first week of NFL action, but a relatively quiet one for snappers. After some changes during training camp and pre-season, the long snapping position stabilized.

The Chargers added Rick Lovato to the practice squad and will activate him each week with Josh Harris on injured reserve. Lovato won a tryout battle with Brent Matiscik, Jake McQuaide and Taylor Pepper prior to the start of the regular season.

Three rookie snappers made their NFL debuts yesterday, as Julian Ashby (Patriots), Austin Brinkman (Texans) and William Wagner (Bengals) snapped in their first games.

On the tackle front, Wagner added an assisted tackle in his debut. Jacob Bobenmoyer (Raiders), Andrew DePaola (Vikings) and Scott Daly (Bears) also added solo stops.

Below is the NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week One action.

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Long Snapping Developments after “Final” Cuts

All NFL rosters had to be reduced to 53 players this afternoon. That limit resulted in a number of snapper transactions, as rookie Luke Elkin (Bears) and veterans Cal Adomitis (Bengals), Zach Triner (Seahawks) and Blake Ferguson (Texans) were let go.

Two other veteran snappers, Aaron Brewer (Cardinals) and Charley Hughlett (Eagles), were both released but for roster flexibility and will return to their clubs soon.

The Chargers are expected to add a veteran snapper due to an injury to Josh Harris that will sideline him for at least part of the season.

As of now, three rookies will make their NFL debuts in Week One with Will Wagner (Bengals), Julian Ashby (Patriots) and Austin Brinkman (Texans).

The Packers signed Matt Orzech to a new three-year deal to keep him in Green Bay.

Stay tuned to Longsnap.com for more moves as rosters are adjusted over the next few days.

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Long Snapping Picture after End of Preseason Games

With the NFL preseason concluded, there are just a few snapping situations to watch as teams get down to 53 man rosters Tuesday. The Bears, Bengals, Seahawks and Texans each have two snappers on the roster as of this morning.

Scott Daly and rookie Luke Elkin and Cal Adomitis and rookie Will Wagner have been in battles all camp in Chicago and Cincinnati respectively. Seattle still has Zach Triner in the roster while Chris Stoll remains out due to injury and the Texans added Blake Ferguson for the final preseason game yesterday while Austin Brinkman recovers from a minor injury.

The Steelers signed Jake McQuiade for its final preseason game due to an injury to Christian Kuntz but McQuaide has since been released. He won a snapping tryout that also involved Rick Lovato, Taylor Pepper and client Patrick Scales.

Rookies Christian Johnstone (Eagles) and Brett Matiscik (Browns) were waived in recent weeks, leaving the four teams with two snappers.

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Pre-Season Long Snapping Update

With the first week of NFL pre-season games complete, there are a few unresolved snapping issues around the league.

The Eagles recently signed rookie Christian Johnstone with Charley Hughlett nursing an injury. The Seahawks added veteran Zach Triner while Chris Stoll recovers from a back injury. The Steelers waived Tucker Addington.

With these moves, five teams (Bears, Bengals, Browns, Eagles and Seahawks) have two snappers on the 90-man roster.

A few teams hosted snapper workouts over the past few weeks, with the Cardinals trying out UFL snappers Peter Bowden, Ryan Langan and Marco Ortiz. Bowden and Drew Little worked out for the Titans and Bowden also had a workout with the Seahawks when they signed Triner. The Eagles also had Niko Lalos, Marco Ortiz and Josh Wojciechowicz in for a tryout when they signed Johnstone.

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Phil Steele’s All American Long Snappers (FBS/FCS)

Phil Steele’s annual publications for FBS and FCS football teams are now out. As usual, Steele included four snappers on each of his All American Teams for each division.

The snappers are:

FBS: First Team Rocco Underwood (Florida); Second Team Beau Gardner (Georgia); Third Team Ben Anderson (Oklahoma); Fourth Team Luke Basso (Oregon)

FCS: First Team Dylan Calabrese (Illinois State); Second Team Brett Welsing (Drake); Third Team Kayden Olivia (South Dakota State); Fourth Team Gavin Lipkin (Southern Utah)

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NFL Long Snapping Update Before Training Camps

With official NFL off-season activities concluded and training camps opening next month, there have a been a few snapping moves that will impact teams when camps start.

The Texans were the most active this month, working out veterans Blake Ferguson and Cam Lyons, but not signing either. Instead, they waived Tucker Addington, who signed a reserves/future contract in February. That move leaves rookie Austin Brinkman as the only snapper on the Texans roster. Addington just signed with the Steelers where he will compete with Christian Kuntz.

As expected, the Broncos released veteran Zach Triner who was signed while Mitchell Fraboni recovered from a back injury.

Following these moves, four clubs have two snappers on their rosters (Bears, Bengals, Browns and Steelers) while the Patriots and Texans each have rookie snappers with Julian Ashby in New England and Brinkman in Houston.

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UFL and CFL Snapper Updates

While things have been quiet with NFL snapping news, the UFL is in the playoffs and the CFL is just underway with its regular season.

Alex Matheson of the St. Louis Battlehawks was named to the All-UFL team. Six different UFL snappers recorded tackles during the regular season, led by Trae Barry with six. Marco Oritz and Peter Bowden recorded two each and Turner Bernard, Antonio Ortiz and Ryan Langan had one tackle.

On the CFL side, the nine snappers that started the season last year remain the same. Below is the list of each snapper by team.

BRITISH COLUMBIA 47 Kyle Nelson

CALGARY 52 Aaron Crawford

EDMONTON 52 Luke Burton-Krahn

HAMILTON 58 Gordon Whyte

MONTREAL 50 Louis-Philippe Bourassa

OTTAWA 53 Peter Adjey

SASKATCHEWAN 46 Jorgen Hus

TORONTO 47 Adam Guillemette

WINNIPEG 40 Mike Benson

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NFL Draft Review for Long Snappers

With all rookie mini-camps complete, the impact of long snappers from the 2025 NFL Draft class is a bit clearer. After carefully reviewing all but a handful of mini-camp rosters, I calculated a total of 25 snappers that were either drafted (1), signed as undrafted free agents (5) or received a mini-camp tryout (19). The full list of players are summarized in the chart below.

After the Draft, the Patriots released veteran Joe Cardona and the Dolphins did the same with Blake Ferguson. Cardona subsequently signed with the Dolphins and they in turn released the undrafted rookie they had just signed, client Kneeland Hibbett.

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Long Snapping Update for Day 3 of NFL Draft

Julian Ashby became the first long snapper to be drafted since 2021 when the Patriots selected him with the 35th pick in Round Seven.

Six other snappers signed undrafted free agent contracts and at least five snappers have earned rookie mini-camp tryouts.

Here are the signings and tryouts as of this evening.

SIGNINGS

Austin Brinkman (Texans)

Luke Elkin (Bears)

Kneeland Hibbett (Dolphins)

Brent Matiscik (Browns)

William Wagner (Bengals)

TRYOUTS

Blake Arnoult (Giants)

Trey Flint (Chiefs)

Christian Johnstone (Broncos)

Mason Napper (Bills)

Austin Riggs (Vikings)

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Draft Day for Long Snappers

Today is the third day of the NFL Draft and is the big one for long snappers. After at least one snapper was drafted from 2015-2021, none have been chosen in the past three years.  There is a chance that changes today. It is likely anywhere from six to eight teams may look to add a snapper, either by drafting one or as an undrafted free agent.

Looking at historical numbers, 10 snappers have been selected in the last 20 years. The highest was Joe Cardona to New England in the Fifth Round in 2015. Two decades ago, 10 were drafted in the four years from 2000-2003. None were taken in the five drafts from 2010-2014.

Just prior to the Draft, the Broncos added veteran Zach Triner, as Mitchell Fraboni is recovery from a recent medical procedure on his back.

Stayed tuned to Longsnap.com for all long snapper news, signings and tryouts.

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