Phil Steele has just announced his All-America teams and, as usual, his is one of the rare publications to include long snappers. The first team snapper is Scott Thompson of NC State, who held the same position last year. Reid Ferguson of LSU is the second team snapper, while Matt Dooley of Indiana and Logan Feimster of Wake Forest are third and fourth team selections.
With the last few NFL teams holding rookie mini-camps this weekend, it looks like this year was the worst in recent memory for a long snapper looking to earn a contract. To date, just three snappers signed a contract after the Draft. The three snappers are Casey Kreiter (Dallas), Trevor Gillette (Jacksonville) and Tyler Ott (New England). Since Longsnap.com has been tracking snapper transactions since 2000, this is the lowest number of signings for snappers. Marcus Heit was originally thought to have signed a contract with the Chiefs, but that ended up being a tryout. Chris Maikranz, who was with the Texans on a tryout basis last week, also tried out for the Chiefs, but neither has been signed at this point. Although not all tryout players are public, my original list of tryout players should have also included Scott Albritton, who earned a tryout with the Jets last weekend. In other snapping moves, the Seahawks waived Jorgen Hus, who was claimed by the Rams where he spent part of training camp last season. After signing Ott, the Patriots waived Charley Hughlett and the Bucs brought back Andrew DePaola, who has been in camp in Tampa Bay the past few seasons.
Last year, I wrote about Jake Olsen, a blind high school long snapper from California. This year, another blind high school snapper, Aaron Golub has received national attention after being awarded preferred walk-on status at Tulane University. Golub is legally blind and snapped at Newton High School near Boston.
Long snapping is perhaps one of the few positions in football in which a person can still succeed, even with limited vision, if they have the talent and ability. Golub and Olsen are two great examples of why the snapping position remains so special and unique in the game of football.
Although only a few long snappers signed contracts after the Draft, many more are being given opportunities to perform at rookie mini-camps over the next two weekends. Not all teams release information about tryout players, but my research has found at least 15 snappers who have been given tryouts. Below is a list of names and teams. Many of the snappers are from this year’s Draft class, although a few are from prior draft classes.
Atlanta: George Makridis
Carolina: Dax Dellenbach
Chicago: Craig Montgomery
Denver: Tanner Hedstrom
Detroit: Ryan Iverson
Green Bay: Bryan Whitaker
Houston: Chris Maikranz
New Orleans: Jareth Glanda
Jets: Kyle Stetler
San Francisco: James Davenport
Seattle: Jake Edmiston
Tampa Bay: Drew Howell and Mike Yerry
Tennessee: Jon Akemon
Washington: JR Carr
The smoke is starting to clear from the undrafted free agency frenzy that follows the Draft. Last night, I reported three signings and one tryout. Since that time, there has been at least one more signing, as Marcus Heit (Kansas State) signed with Kansas City.
Three other snappers have also earned mini-camp tryouts, including Jareth Glanda (Michigan) with New Orleans, Chris Maikranz (Lamar) with Houston and street free agent Kyle Stetler (Wisconsin-River Falls) with the Jets.
As expected, no long snapper was drafted today. However, a few signed contracts or, in at least one instance, agreed to a tryout after the Draft. Among the early signings are Casey Kreiter (Iowa) with Dallas, Trevor Gillette (Rice) with Jacksonville and Tyler Ott (Harvard) with New England. JR Carr (Tennessee) will have a tryout with Washington.
More signings and tryouts are expected to be announced in the next day or two.
The third day of the NFL Draft is today and marks a key time for long snapping prospects. Although a snapper is not expected to be selected in the Draft, they are very popular right after the Draft during undrafted free agency. As the Draft’s final rounds approach later this afternoon, as many as six or eight snappers may be signed to contracts as undrafted free agents and perhaps an equal number may earn tryouts.
The only recent snapping transaction involved client Patrick Scales, who was released by Tampa Bay due to a non-football injury. Scales is recovering and expected to be ready to resume snapping soon. Tampa Bay is one of the teams expected to adding a snapper today.
Longsnap.com will be tracking all of the snapper signings and tryouts as they become known. Any snappers that would like to report a transaction can email me at kevingold@longsnap.com
Snapper Carson Tinker of the Jacksonville Jaguars has just released a book describing his loss and recovery following a devastating tornado while Tinker was a student athlete at the University of Alabama. Tinker was injured when an EF-4 tornado struck, killing his girlfriend.
Tinker describes the traumatic events in his book entitled “A Season to Remember: Faith in the Midst of the Storm.” The book is available on Amazon.com.
With veteran snapper Patrick Mannelly still recovering from hip surgery, the Bears added a CFL veteran to the roster. Chad Rempel, who has snapped for four CFL clubs over a 10 year career, signed a contract with the Bears and will compete with Brandon Hartson.
Although many expect Mannelly to return to Chicago for a record 17th season, it appears that he is still weighing his options as he rehabilitates his injury.
The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks added snapping competition this week by signing Jorgen Hus. Hus, who was in camp with the Rams during training camp last season, will compete with client Clint Gresham in Seattle.
