NFL Snapper Signings and Coaching Changes Update

Posted on January 14, 2018 by longsnap

With the NFC and AFC Championship matchups set for next weekend, it is a good time to take a look at some of the snapping developments in terms of signings and coaching changes since the end of the regular season.

To date, four snappers have signed reserve/future contracts for next season.  The four are Bradley Northnagel (Raiders), Drew Williams (Cardinals), Zach Triner (Packers) and Anthony Kukwa (Chargers).

Another tradition after the end of the season is the coaching carousel, that always has a significant impact on special teams coaches.  Among the changes are Tom McMahon, who moves from the Colts to the Broncos after Brock Olivo was terminated.  Chris Tabor moves from Cleveland to Chicago and Rich Bisaccia goes from Dallas to Oakland. Jeff Rodgers (Chicago), Brad Seely (Oakland) and Larry Izzo (Houston) are also looking for new positions.

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Week Seventeen in Review

Posted on January 2, 2018 by longsnap

It is a new year and the 2017 NFL regular season is complete.  The final week of the regular season marked the debut of Jeff Overbaugh.  Overbaugh snapped well for the Vikings in place of Kevin McDermott, who was placed on injured reserve.  Earlier in the week, Overbaugh was signed after a workout that also included veteran snapper Justin Drescher.

The Packers added Zach Triner to its practice squad a few days ago. Now that the team’s season is over, he will likely sign a contract for next season in Green Bay.  Lost in the shuffle of last week’s snapping news was a workout the Bucs conducted with snappers Nolan Frese and Drew Williams.

In addition to any new snapper signings, Longsnap.com will be covering the various special teams coaching changes, veteran free agency and the top prospects for the NFL Draft during the coming weeks.

Zak DeOssie finished the season with six tackles, four of which were solo tackles, and is the  champion again for snapper tackles in punt coverage.  This is his sixth title in the last seven seasons.  In 2015, when he did not finish first, DeOssie missed the last few weeks of the season.  In Week Seventeen, Jon Condo (Raiders) and Rick Lovato (Eagles) added solo tackles, while Colin Holba (Jaguars) added an assist.

The final NFL Long Snappers Chart for the 2017 season is below.

2017 NFL Season

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Week Sixteen In Review

Posted on December 26, 2017 by longsnap

Week Sixteen brought another prominent use of an emergency snapper, as Kevin McDermott of the Vikings was injured late in the first half against the Packers.  Tight end David Morgan served as the snapper the rest of the game and did well under the circumstances.

The Vikings think that McDermott may be able to return for the playoffs but are expected to add a veteran after a workout today that will include Justin Drescher. Last week, the Rams worked out Jeff Overbaugh and Drew Ferris with some kickers and punters due to an injury to their kicker.

The STATS FCS All-America team was announced this week and includes the best of the FCS long snappers.  James Fisher of North Dakota State was the first team snapper, followed by Hunter Winstead (Liberty) and Brandon Godsey (South Dakota).  All are seniors.

Four snappers has tackles in punt coverage this week, led by Jonathan Weeks (Texans) who had a solo and assisted tackle and Mike Windt (Chargers), who had two assisted tackles.  Josh Harris (Falcons) and Zak DeOssie (Giants) each had a solo tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Sixteen is below.

2017 Week Sixteen

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Week Fifteen in Review

Posted on December 19, 2017 by longsnap

Week Fifteen is done and included a rare “triple play” of blocks, as the Eagles blocked an extra point, field goal and punt against the Giants.  Cardinals snapper Aaron Brewer returned to action and did well in his return from a broken wrist.  Thomas Hennessy of the Jets. who missed most of last week’s game with a concussion. was able to snap this week.

Phil Steele continues to be one of the few college football writers to show love to long snappers.  As part of his support for the snapping position, Steele has just released his All-American team that has 1st-4th teams, including snappers.  Tanner Carew of Oregon, who will also play in the Senior Bowl, is the 1st team snapper, followed by Wyatt Pfeifer of Western Michigan, Ike Powell of Auburn, who is also a Senior Bowl invite, and the 4th team snapper is Wesley Horky of Oklahoma.

This week, the East-West Shrine Game, which has not typically invited snapping specialists to its college all-star game, changed course and added snappers Drew Scott (Kansas State) and Hunter Bradley (Mississippi State).

Four snappers, Andrew DePaola (Bears), Clark Harris (Bengals), Nick Sundberg (Redskins) and Tyler Ott (Seahawks), recorded solo tackles in punt coverage this week.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Fifteen is below.

2017 Week Fifteen

 

 

 

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Week Fourteen in Review

Posted on December 12, 2017 by longsnap

Week Fourteen brought another snapper injury and an emergency replacement pressed into action.  Thomas Hennessy of the Jets suffered an apparent concussion against the Broncos in the first half, forcing tight end Eric Tomlinson to assume the snapper role.  Tomlinson did a decent job in relief.

Justin Drescher, who filled in for injured Aaron Brewer in Arizona since Week Five, was released yesterday and Brewer is set to resume snapping duties for the Cardinals.

In college a news, Ike Powell of Auburn will join Tanner Carew of Oregon as the two snappers in the Senior Bowl next month.  Both are the top snapping prospects for the Draft.

Four snappers recorded tackles in Week Fourteen, with JJ Jansen (Panthers) and Zak DeOssie (Giants) tallying solo tackles and Hennessy and John Denney (Dolphins) adding assisted tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Fourteen is below.

2017 Week Fourteen

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Week Thirteen in Review

Posted on December 5, 2017 by longsnap

Week Thirteen marked the return of tackles by snappers in punt coverage.  After two unprecedented weeks of no tackles, Justin Drescher of the Cardinals added a solo tackle and client Casey Kreiter of the Broncos added an assisted tackle.  LP Ladouceur of the Cowboys had a fumble recovery in the Thursday game.

Prior to Week Thirteen action, Jeff Overbaugh worked out for the Chargers and Overbaugh and Andrew East had tryouts with the Redskins yesterday.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Thirteen is below.

2017 Week Thirteen

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Week Twelve in Review

Posted on November 28, 2017 by longsnap

Week Twelve was a quiet one in the snapping world.  For a second consecutive week, there were no tackles in punt coverage by an NFL snapper.  The only team to workout a snapper was Jacksonville, who had client Derek Hart in for a tryout earlier in the week.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Twelve is below.

2017 Week Twelve

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Week Eleven in Review

Posted on November 21, 2017 by longsnap

Week Eleven marked the NFL regular season debut of Colin Holba in Jacksonville and the return of client Brett Goode to Green Bay.  In addition, it was a highly unusual week since no snapper recorded a tackle in punt coverage.  I have been tracking snapper tackles in punt coverage since the start of Longsnap.com in 2000 and I do not recall a week in which  no tackles occurred by a snapper.

The Saints have added veteran special teams coach Mike Westhoff to the existing special teams staff  to assist Brad Banta and his assistant Kevin O’Dea.

On the college snapping front, two snappers accepted invites to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.  Jake Wirsching from Bemidji State and Andy Rieman from Mount Union will be the snappers.  They join Tanner Carew of Oregon, who will snap in the Senior Bowl, as the snappers who have received all-star bids.

The Week Eleven NFL Long Snappers Chart is below.

2017 Week Eleven

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Week Ten in Review

Posted on November 14, 2017 by longsnap

Week Ten featured rare successful efforts by replacement snappers.  In recent NFL history, when a snapper goes down, the backup snapper or snappers have not always been up to the task.   This week, when Matt Overton was injured for the Jaguars, Tommy Bohanon filled in to perform punt snaps and Tyler Shatley did the same for the short snaps.  Both did well under the circumstances and the Jaguars won on a late field goal in overtime.

The Jaguars have since signed Colin Holba, who was drafted this year by the Steelers, to replace Overton. Before signing Holba, Andrew East, Drew Ferris and Ryan DiSalvo also worked out for the Jaguars.

During the bye week, the Eagles worked out three snappers, hosting East, client Jimmy Landes and Jeff Overbaugh.

Pro Football Focus, known for their analytical analysis of the NFL and college football, just released their mid-season rankings of all 32 NFL special teams units.  The Vikings have the top units due, at least in part, to snapper Kevin McDermott, who has only one negatively-graded snap.  The Eagles are second, followed by the 49ers, Dolphins and Ravens.  The bottom five are the Giants, Packers, Chargers, Redskins and the last-ranked Cardinals.

At least one college snapper who is a top prospect for the NFL Draft has been invited to a post-season all-star game.  Tanner Carew of Oregon has been invited to the Senior Bowl, the best of the various all-star games.  More invites for snappers will follow in the coming weeks.

Three snappers, Tyler Ott (Seahawks), Clark Harris (Bengals) and Nick Sundberg (Redskins), recorded solo tackles in punt coverage this week.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Ten is below.

2017 Week Ten

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Week Nine in Review

Posted on November 7, 2017 by longsnap

Week Nine is complete and marked the NFL regular season debut of client Derek Hart with the Packers last night.  Hart becomes the third snapper the Packers have used this season, following injuries to client Brett Goode and, most recently, Goode’s replacement Taybor Pepper this past week. To earn the Packers job, Hart competed against three other tryout snappers in Colin Holba, Nolan Frese and Zach Triner

Unfortunately, Hart had a poor field goal snap to start his NFL career, but rebounded on his remaining snaps and even recorded an assisted tackle in punt coverage.

John Denney of the Dolphins played in his 200th game this week to become only the third Dolphin to reach that milestone in team history.

A special note from the college ranks, as Iowa snapper Tyler Kluver helped execute a perfect fake field goal against Ohio State in which Kluver caught a pass after his snap and nearly scored a touchdown.

Although not a snapper story, punter Johnny Hekker of the Rams received some significant press attention this week when a New York Times story by Ben Shipgel asked whether he might be “The N.F.L.’s Most Valuable Player”.  Shipgel profiles Hekker’s rise from an undrafted free agent punter, noting his rare combination of distance, direction and hang times makes him a unique special teams weapon.

In addition to Hart’s assisted tackle, two other snappers, Jon Weeks (Texans) and Kyle Nelson (49ers), added assists this week in punt coverage.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Nine is below.

2017 Week Nine

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