25 FBS College Seniors Named to Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List

Posted on August 2, 2019 by longsnap

Yesterday was an important day for long snappers as the Watch List for the inaugural Patrick Mannelly Award Presented By Bernie’s Book Bank was announced.

A total of 25 senior FBS snappers were on the initial list, although additions are possible before the 10 semi-finalists are announced on Monday, November 16th.

Three finalists will be selected on Monday, November 23rd, with the winner selected in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, December 14th.

I am honored to be one of the founders of this long overdue award, along with Patrick Mannelly himself and Chris Rubio.

Below is a list of all 25 Watch List snappers.

Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List 2019

 

 

Posted in College, Patrick Mannelly Award, Snapping in the Media | Comments Off on 25 FBS College Seniors Named to Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List

College and NFL Snapping Odds and Ends

Posted on July 17, 2019 by longsnap

With NFL training camps opening today, the college season is not far behind.  Things are already heating up for snappers and will continue August 1st, when The Patrick Mannelly Award, for which I am honored to be one of the founders, will announce its Watch List.

Chris Rubio, another Mannelly Award co-founder, just concluded his camp for college snappers in which Blake Ferguson of LSU was crowned the champion.  Former NFL special teams coach Gary Zauner has his own camp in which Liam McCullough of Ohio State was given the award.  Both Ferguson and McCullough are considered top snapping prospects for the 2020 NFL Draft.

Yesterday, SpecialTeamsU announced its own All American Watch List of college snappers, shown below.

Finally, in just the past few days, snappers played a prominent role on social media again, with various #BottleCapChallenge videos from top NFL and college snappers and talk of Madden ratings for NFL snappers.

All of this means meaningful football games are coming soon!

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2019 Training Camp Long Snapper Chart

Posted on July 16, 2019 by longsnap

Some NFL teams will start training camps tomorrow, making it the perfect time to debut the 2019 Training Camp Long Snapper Chart.

The Chart below has detailed information on each team’s snapper, including contract expiration dates.  Special teams coaches are also included, along with information on the 12 teams with two snappers on the roster heading into camp.

2019 Training Camp Chart

Posted in NFL | Comments Off on 2019 Training Camp Long Snapper Chart

2019 Phil Steele All-American Long Snappers; FCS All-Americans from HERO Sports

Posted on June 30, 2019 by longsnap

Phil Steele’s 2019 College Football Preview is now available and remains one of the best publications for in-depth college football information.  Once again, Steele includes four long snappers on his Preseason All-American Team and goes a step further in the magazine to rank the top four snappers in each FBS conference as well.

This year’s All-American Team features Blake Ferguson (LSU) as the First Team snapper.  Damon Johnson (USC), Steve Wirtel (Iowa State) and Geron Eatherly (Tulane) are the Second, Third and Fourth Team snappers.  All are seniors except for Johnson, who is a junior.

HERO Sports also included two long snappers on its recently published 2019 Preseason All-American Teams for FCS players.  First Team was Josh Brady of Jacksonville State and the Second Team was Bradey Sorenson South Dakota State.

Posted in College, Snapping in the Media | Comments Off on 2019 Phil Steele All-American Long Snappers; FCS All-Americans from HERO Sports

NFL Snapping Update Before Training Camps

Posted on June 17, 2019 by longsnap

NFL teams are now done with official off-season activities until training camps open in July.  Recently, snappers Dan Godsil (Buccaneers) and Christian Kuntz (Jaguars) were waived, leaving both teams without a second snapper.  A total of 12 teams (Falcons, Ravens, Bears, Cowboys, Chargers, Dolphins, Vikings, Saints, Giants, Raiders, 49ers and Redskins) currently have two snappers on the roster heading to training camp.

Before leaving for the break, Luke Rhodes of the Colts signed a new deal that adds four years to his existing contract and also made him the highest paid long snapper in the NFL.

Posted in NFL, Transactions | Comments Off on NFL Snapping Update Before Training Camps

2019 CFL Long Snappers

Posted on June 14, 2019 by longsnap

The Canadian Football League regular season started last night and, like the NFL, the long snapping position generally remains stable.  Two snappers differ from last year’s opening day rosters, as Tanner Doll now starts in British Columbia and Aaron Crawford snaps for Hamilton.

The starting long snappers for each CFL team are below.

British Columbia 40 Tanner Doll

Calgary 54 Pierre-Luc Caron

Edmonton 53 Ryan King

Hamilton 47 Aaron Crawford

Montreal 37 Martin Bedard

Ottawa 50 Louis-Phillippe Bourassa

Saskatchewan 46 Jorgen Hus

Toronto 58 Jake Reinhart

Winnipeg 46 Chad Rempel

Posted in CFL | Comments Off on 2019 CFL Long Snappers

Summary of NFL Draft Snapping Transactions

Posted on May 14, 2019 by longsnap

NFL rookie mini-camps ended Sunday and below is a summary of the recent activity at the snapping position regarding those drafted, signed or offered tryouts since the NFL Draft.  Only certain mini-camp tryouts are made public and some are reported incorrectly as contract signings.  Further, depending on the timing, some snappers were able to attend two mini-camps.  Some of the tryout snappers have prior NFL experience, having either been in training camp or having attended prior mini-camp tryouts.

If there are any snappers missing from this list, please let me know by emailing me at kevingold@longsnap.com.

DRAFTED

Austin Cutting (Air Force/Vikings)

SIGNED

Kyle Casey (Penn State/Falcons)

Matt Orzech (Azusa Pacific/Ravens)

John Wirtel (Kansas/Bears)

Wes Farnsworth (Nevada/Dolphins)

Nick Moore (Georgia/Saints)

Dan Godsil (Indiana/Buccaneers)

TRYOUT

Joe Fortunato (Delaware/Giants)

Nick Reinhardt (Arizona/Browns)

Luke Idoni (Central Michigan/Bears and Lions)

Jacob Bobenmoyer (Northern Colorado/Bears and Broncos)

Patrick Eby (Columbia/Packers)

Owen Gilbert (Marian/Colts)

Lucas Gravelle (TCU/Raiders)

Chris Wilkerson (Stephen F. Austin/49ers and Titans)

Mitchell Fraboni (Arizona State/Cardinals)

Matt Tunnacliffe (Dayton/Bengals)

Tyler Heinsma (Mesa State/Texans)

Anthony Kukwa (Lake Erie/Texans)

AJ Hantak (Eastern Illinois/Patriots)

Drew Ferris (Florida/Redskins)

Zach Roberts (Georgia Tech/Redskins)

 

 

Posted in NFL, NFL Draft, Transactions | Comments Off on Summary of NFL Draft Snapping Transactions

Experienced Snappers Earn Mini-Camp Tryouts

Posted on April 28, 2019 by longsnap

While many NFL team either sign or invite rookie long snappers into mini-camp, some teams use the opportunity to invite an experienced snapper.  At least three snappers with prior mini-camp experience have earned tryouts again this season.

The three that have been identified so far are AJ Hantak (New England), Lucas Gravelle (Oakland) and Mitch Fraboni (Arizona).

Posted in NFL, NFL Draft, Transactions | Comments Off on Experienced Snappers Earn Mini-Camp Tryouts

Cutting Drafted by Vikings; Other Snapper Signings and Tryouts

Posted on April 27, 2019 by longsnap

At least one snapper has been drafted each of the last five NFL Drafts, as Austin Cutting from Air Force kept the streak going when he was selected by the Vikings in the Seventh Round today.  Cutting is reportedly working on postponing his military commitment to join the Vikings.

After the Draft ended tonight, there was a flurry of signings and tryouts.  Since tryouts often get mistakenly reported as contracts, I am going to list all of the snappers and teams they have been associated with until the information can be confirmed.  Once the details are confirmed, I will provide an update.  Any missing transactions can be emailed to me at kevingold@longsnap.com

Dan Godsil (Indiana)-Tampa Bay

Nick Moore (Georgia)-New Orleans

Chris Wilkerson (Stephen F. Austin)-San Francisco

Wes Farnsworth (Nevada)-Miami

Patrick Eby (Columbia)-Green Bay

Owen Gilbert (Marian)-Indianapolis

Kyle Vasey (Penn State)-Atlanta

John Wirtel (Kansas)-Chicago

Nick Reinhardt (Arizona)-Cleveland

Matt Orzech (Azusa Pacific)-Baltimore

Austin Frey (Texas A&M)-Kansas City

Jacob Bobbenmoyer (Northern Colorado)-Denver

 

Posted in NFL, NFL Draft, Transactions | Comments Off on Cutting Drafted by Vikings; Other Snapper Signings and Tryouts

Snapping Update for NFL Draft Week

Posted on April 22, 2019 by longsnap

The NFL Draft is just days away.  Saturday will be the big day for snappers, either during the Draft or right after it ends when teams can sign undrafted snappers to contracts or invite them to tryouts.

One team has added a snapper from the now bankrupt AAF, as the Chargers signed Cole Mazza to compete with Mike Windt.  With Mazza signing with the Chargers, six other teams (Cowboys, Jaguars, Giants, Raiders, Niners and Redskins) head into the Draft with two snappers on the roster.

Longsnap.com will provide immediate updates on Saturday with the latest snapper transactions.  Any signings or tryouts can be reported to kevingold@longsnap.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Snapping Update for NFL Draft Week