The NFL Competition Committee has announced that one of the rule changes it will consider at next week’s league meeting is a proposal to protect snappers. The proposed rule provides that, on field goals and extra points, the rushing team will be limited to six defensive players that can align on either side of the snapper. In addition, the defense cannot push teammates across the line and the snapper will be considered a defenseless player.
Free agency commenced yesterday afternoon and led to two additional signings at the long snapper position. Morgan Cox signed a two year deal to stay with the Ravens yesterday, while today it was announced that Justin Drescher signed a four year contract with the Saints.
With veteran free agency set to commence tomorrow, one of the more active positions for signings is at long snapper. In addition to the recent signings of potential unrestricted free agents LP Ladouceur (Cowboys) and Clark Harris (Bengals) comes the new deal today for Eagles snapper Jon Dorenbos. Two potential restricted free agents, Mike Windt (Chargers) and Nick Sundberg (Redskins), are also off the market due to long-term contracts reached over the weekend.
Four snappers will become unrestricted free agents tomorrow, Don Muhlbach (Lions), Thomas Gafford (Chiefs), Greg Warren (Steelers) and Andrew Economos (Bucs). Four others, Morgan Cox (Ravens), Justin Drescher (Saints), Tanner Purdum (Jets) and Clint Gresham (Seahawks), are scheduled to become restricted free agents.
With the NFL free agency period about to commence, two potential free agent snappers avoided the open market this week. LP Ladouceur signed a new deal to stay in Dallas and today it was announced that Clark Harris will stay in Cincinnati.
The snappers who will hit the open market as unrestricted free agents next week include Greg Warren (Steelers), Jon Dorenbos (Eagles), Andrew Economos (Bucs), Thomas Gafford (Chiefs) and Don Muhlbach (Lions).
News broke yesterday that the Detroit Lions signed punter Blake Clingan after a Tuesday workout. Although this is a rather routine off-season transaction, Clingan’s story of perseverance may serve as an inspiration for snappers wishing to get a shot in the NFL.
Clingan punted at Central Florida and was part of the 2011 NFL Draft class. Clingan went undrafted and may have been hindered by the lockout. His sole NFL opportunity was a tryout with the Dolphins.
Clingan kept in shape and was recently presented with the opportunity to workout for Lions if he paid his own travel. Clingan reportedly spent $500 for his flight, did well at the workout yesterday and is now a Lion.
Rick Gosselin of the The Dallas Morning News recently published his well-known rankings of each NFL special teams unit. Gosselin has been ranking this component of football for 33 years and does his calculations based on 22 different aspects of special teams play.
This year, Minnesota took the top spot, followed by Cincinnati, Baltimore, Miami and Seattle. The worst ranked unit was Houston, with Oakland, Detroit, Carolina and Tampa Bay the next four clubs from the bottom up. Minnesota made the biggest jump in the history of Gosselin’s ranking after finishing 29th last season.
With the story breaking today that the Redskins have hired Keith Burns as their new special teams coach, it looks like the coaching carousel at the position has stopped. Half of the jobs have turned over after the season for a total of 16 new special teams coaches. Many of the coaches have simply moved to new clubs.
Below is a list of the special teams coaches for each team.
| Arizona Cardinals Amos Jones |
| Atlanta Faclons Keith Armstrong |
| Baltimore Ravens Jerry Rosburg |
| Buffalo Bills Danny Crossman |
| Carolina Panthers Richard Rogers |
| Chicago Bears Joe DeCamillas |
| Cincinnati Bengals Darrin Simmons |
| Cleveland Browns Chris Tabor |
| Dallas Cowboys Richard Bisaccia |
| Denver Broncos Jeff Rodgers |
| Detroit Lions John Bonamego |
| Green Bay Packers Shawn Slocum |
| Houston Texans Joe Maricano |
| Indianapolis Colts Tom McMahon |
| Jacksonville Jaguars Mike Malloy |
| Kansas City Chiefs Dave Toub |
| Miami Dolphins Darren Rizzi |
| Minnesota Vikings Mike Priefer |
| New England Patriots Scott O’Brien |
| New Orleans Saints Greg McMahon |
| New York Giants Tom Quinn |
| New York Jets Ben Kotwica |
| Oakland Raiders Bobby April |
| Philadelphia Eagles Dave Fipp |
| Pittsburgh Steelers Danny Smith |
| San Diego Chargers Kevin Spencer |
| San Francisco 49ers Brad Seely |
| Seattle Seahawks Brian Schneider |
| St. Louis Rams John Fassel |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers Dave Wannstedt |
| Tennessee Titans Nate Kazcor |
| Washington Redskins Keith Burns |
Luke Ingram from Hawaii will be the lone long snapper at the NFL Scouting Combine at the end of this month. Ingram also snapped in the top college all-star game, the Senior Bowl, last month matching his brother Jake’s similar post-season accomplishments in 2009.
The Scouting Combine began inviting long snapping specialists in 2006 and invited multiple snappers through 2009. Since then, just one snapper has been invited to Indianapolis each year (Clint Gresham, Danny Aiken and Josh Harris), although each invitee is an active NFL long snapper.
The NFL season ended last night with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl. Morgan Cox, the Ravens third year snapper, will earn a ring for his efforts. During the playoffs, just two snappers recorded tackles, as Clark Harris of the Bengals had a solo tackle, while Clint Gresham of the Seahawks added an assist. Both tackles occurred during the wild card weekend.
With the season now complete, attention will turn to the Combine and free agency. In addition, as the critical off-season period begins, at least half of the NFL special teams coaching positions will be different. Although it is very common for special teams coaches to move to different positions after each year, the changes for the 2013 season appear to be unprecedented.
The Super Bowl is one of the rare times when snappers get significant national media attention. Largely due to the unique role they play in football, snappers tend to get more focus than usual. This year is no exception, as snappers Brian Jennings of the 49ers and Morgan Cox of the Ravens have been featured in numerous national media stories describing and explaining their critical, but often overlooked, role in the NFL.
An interesting note for this weekend’s contest in New Orleans is that four Super Bowls have been decided by last-minute kicks, including the last one held in New Orleans involving the Patriots and Rams.
Longsnap.com 