Week Fourteen in Review

Posted on December 13, 2016 by longsnap

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Week Fourteen was an active one for special teams and snappers in particular.  The Eagles rare use of three snappers warranted its own blog post.

Dorenbos Injury Brings Snapping Front and Center

Kickers continued to struggle with missed kicks and, last night, the Patriots executed another successful “leaping the snapper” play to block a Ravens field goal attempt.

With Jon Dorenbos now on injured reserve due to a wrist injury, the Eagles turned to Rick Lovato, who recently snapped for the Redskins when Nick Sundberg was injured.  Earlier in the week, Lovato, along with Zach Triner, Daniel Dillon and Kameron Canaday. all worked out for the Jets.

The latest leaping the snapper play caused former Bears snapper Pat Mannelly to write this post last night in which he offers tips to snappers on how to handle a potential leaper.

News also broke last night that another special teams coach would serve as head coach. Reports indicate that John Fassel may serve as interim head coach for the Rams after the firing of Jeff Fisher.  Already this season, special teams coaches Joe DeCamillas (Broncos) and Mike Priefer (Vikings) have served as head coach on a temporary basis.

Five snappers had tackles in punt coverage this week, with Carson Tinker (Jaguars), Thomas Gafford (Broncos), Josh Harris (Falcons) and LP Ladouceur (Cowboys) recording solo tackles and Zak DeOssie (Giants) chipping in with an assisted tackle.  DeOssie leads all snappers with three weeks left in the season with six total tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Fourteen is below.

NFL Long Snappers Chart Week Fourteen

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Dorenbos Injury Brings Snapping Front and Center

Posted on December 11, 2016 by longsnap

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Today’s Eagles game deserves a special blog post by itself.  Eagles snapper Jon Dorenbos, who was playing in his 162nd consecutive game, injured his wrist on a third quarter punt.  Unable to return, tight end Brent Celek is the backup snapper, but immediately had a poor short snap that prevented a field goal attempt.

Celek was injured shortly after his snap and forced the Eagles to do sideline auditions for a third snapper.  Among the candidates were Bryan Braman, Mychal Kendricks and Trey Burton.  Burton was chosen to snap on a field goal and, although the snap was a bit high, the kick was good.

Most teams have an emergency plan in place when the regular snapper goes down.  However, those emergency snappers do not get much work during the season and are often forced into difficult snapping situations very quickly.  Remarkably, the Eagles were able to deal with the loss of their primary snapper and emergency snapper.

 

 

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Week Thirteen in Review

Posted on December 6, 2016 by longsnap

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Week Thirteen was a fairly uneventful one for snappers.  Nick Sundberg returned to action for the Redskins after missing two weeks with a back injury.  Rick Lovato, who replaced Sundberg, was waived.

Tyler Ott and Thomas Gafford each snapped a second week for the Bengals and Broncos respectively, as Clark Harris and Casey Kreiter continue to recover from injuries.

Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer served as head coach on Thursday as Mike Zimmer was recovering from eye surgery.  Earlier this year, Broncos special teams coach Joe DeCamillis also served as head coach for a game.

Four snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage this week, with LP Ladouceur (Cowboys), Kyle Nelson (49ers) and Joe Cardona (Patriots) tallying solo tackles and Carson Tinker (Jaguars) adding an assisted tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Thirteen is below.

NFL Long Snappers Chart Week Thirteeen

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Week Twelve in Review

Posted on November 29, 2016 by longsnap

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After a relatively steady start to the NFL season at the snapping position, things have started to change and change quickly.  Two experienced snappers played this week due to injuries to existing snappers.

Veteran snapper Thomas Gafford was signed by the Broncos to replace client Casey Kreiter who has a calf injury.  Tyler Ott was first added to the Bengals practice squad and later promoted to the active roster for Clark Harris as he recovers from a groin injury.  Rick Lovato of the Redskins snapped for the second straight week with Nick Sundberg still recovering from a back injury.  Kreiter, Harris and Sundberg are all expected back soon.

Before Ott was signed by the Bengals, he was chosen from a tryout group that also included John DePalma, Ryan DiSalvo and Gafford.  Jeff Overbaugh was also a participant at the Redskins tryout before Lovato was signed.

Four snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage this week.  Aaron Brewer (Cardinals) and Nolan Frese (Seahawks) had solo tackles, while Don Muhlbach (Lions) and Kyle Nelson (49ers) had assisted tackles.  Frese also had a forced fumble on his tackle and, in perhaps the most important plays of the week by a snapper, James Winchester of the Chiefs recovered a fumbled punt late in the victory against the Broncos.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Twelve is below.

NFL Long Snapper Chart Week Twelve

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Week Eleven in Review

Posted on November 22, 2016 by longsnap

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Week Eleven was both an active and tragic one.  James Winchester of the Chiefs snapped Sunday in a victory against the Bucs after losing his father in a shooting earlier in the week.  Winchester had his father’s funeral on Saturday and returned to snap without incident on Sunday.  The Chiefs had planned to use Travis Kelce and Anthony Sherman if Winchester could not snap and also worked out client Clint Gresham and Thomas Gafford in case they were needed.

Although the Chiefs did not need to make a change, the Redskins did as Nick Sundberg injured his back during the week and former Packer Rick Lovato was brought in to snap for at least the Sunday night game.

The Bengals may also need to look at snappers this week, as Clark Harris was injured late in the game against the Bills.  Harris returned to finish the game, but appeared very limited after the snap.

There were a record 12 missed or blocked extra points this week.  To demonstrate how significant a figure that is, just eight extra points were missed all of last season.

Earlier this week. the Eagles extended the contract of Jon Dorenbos, who would have been a free agent after the season.  Dorenbos is now under contract through the 2019 season.

The Saints added veteran special teams coach Kevin O’Dea as an additional assistant to Greg McMahon after the Saints have had various special teams issues of late, particularly in the kicking game.

Zak DeOssie (Giants) had two tackles in punt coverage, while client Patrick Scales (Bears)had one solo tackle.  JJ Jansen (Panthers), Clark Harris (Bengals) and Nolan Frese (Seahawks) each had assisted tackles.  DeOssie now leads all snappers with five tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Eleven is below.

NFL Long Snappers Chart Week Eleven

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Week Ten in Review

Posted on November 15, 2016 by longsnap

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Week Ten was another active one at the special teams position with many missed extra points and field goals.  In addition, the “jumping over the snapper: issue that came up most recently in Week Seven when Bobby Wagner of Seattle leapt over Arizona snapper Aaron Brewer twice, occurred again in the Broncos win over the Saints.

The Broncos blocked a late extra point attempt and returned it for a game-winning two point score.  On the play, the Broncos pushed down on the back of Saints snapper Justin Drescher, allowing another player to have a path to block the kick.  Dean Blandino of the NFL explained that an open hand push of the snapper is legal, but grabbing and pulling would be holding and not legal.   It is worth noting that there have been 11 kicks blocked this year, after 12 all of last season.

Patrick Mannelly, the former Bears snapper, tweeted that when a snapper sees a stacked defender, they should know to set high and anticipate the leap.  Snappers will need to prepare for this play and it is likely the NFL may examine the rules governing jumping the snapper in the off-season.

On the tackle front, five snappers recorded tackles in punt coverage, with James Winchester (Chiefs) and Zak DeOssie (Giants) adding solo tackles, while John Denney (Dolphins), Nolan Frese (Seahawks) and Joe Cardona (Patriots) had assisted tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Ten is below.

NFL Long Snappers Chart Week Ten

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Week Nine in Review

Posted on November 8, 2016 by longsnap

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Week Nine in the NFL is complete and featured a number of key special teams plays, both positive and negative.  Fortunately, snappers did not play a role in the negative plays, although the Bills blocked a Seahawks punt last night with a rush up the middle.  After the game, Bills special teams coach Danny Crossman noted that snapper Nolan Frese of Seattle was having some issues with protection.

In the only transaction involving a snapper this week the Bills added rookie Reid Ferguson to their practice squad.

Just one snapper, Charley Hughlett of the Browns, recorded a tackle in Week Nine.  His solo tackle gives him four total tackles this season, with a group of snappers at two total tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Nine is below.

NFL Long Snappers Chart Week Nine

 

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Week Eight in Review

Posted on November 1, 2016 by longsnap

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After an eventful Week Seven, things calmed down considerably at the snapping position in Week Eight.  To tie up a loose end from last week, the Giants released Tyler Ott from the practice squad with Zak DeOssie now healthy.  Ott, along with John DePalma, worked out for the Patriots yesterday.

The Dolphins recently named veteran John Denney their team captain, a rare feat for a special teamer and a snapper in particular.

Two snappers, Clark Harris (Bengals) and Jon Condo (Raiders), recorded tackles in punt coverage this week.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart following Week Eight is below.

NFL Long Snappers Chart Week Eight

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Veteran Chevrier Returns to CFL

Posted on October 29, 2016 by longsnap

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Every once in a while there is a great snapping story from up north.  Recently, former NFL snapper and CFL veteran Randy Chevrier made his return to the CFL as a 40-year old.  Chevrier, who was originally drafted by a CFL club and the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2001, thought his football career was over after spending the last decade snapping for the Calgary Stampeders following a few stints in the NFL.

Chevrier’s excellent career has been revived when he signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the final three games of the season.  Chevrier is the only active snapper in the CFL that snapped in a regular season NFL game and looks to put an exclamation point on an excellent professional career in Saskatchewan.

 

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More on the Wagner Long Snapper Leaps

Posted on October 26, 2016 by longsnap

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The two instances in which Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner jumped over Arizona long snapper Aaron Brewer continues to be the subject of scrutiny.  Arizona Head Coach Bruce Arians says that a rule permitting a player to jump over the line is “bad for football” and could lead to serious injury as snappers adjust to handling a leaping defender.

For its part, the NFL continues to defend the first leap in which Wagner had contact with Brewer.  The NFL is distinguishing incidental contact, which is not a penalty, and contact in which you land on a player which would lead to a flag.  The NFL concluded the contact with Brewer on the first leap was incidental or not significant enough for a flag.

 

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