Week Four of the NFL season is in the books and the snapping position has remained stable. Five snappers recorded solo tackles this week, including Lonie Paxton (Broncos), Jeremy Cain (Jaguars), Zak DeOssie (Giants), Mike Windt (Chargers) and Nick Sundberg (Redskins). DeOssie leads all snappers with a total of three tackles this season.
The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Four is below. Coming tomorrow, look for Longsnap.com’s exclusive compilation of all Division One long snappers.
Top long snapping coach Chris Rubio announced a new national award yesterday named in his honor to recognize the best national high school long snapper. The award will be known as the Chris Rubio Award and will be given annually. Herbalife 24 is the sponsor and this year’s award will be presented on December 17, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
Week Three in the NFL featured one of the best designed special teams plays that, in the end, did not count. In the Packers victory against the Bears, the Packers had punter Tim Masthay punt toward the left sideline. At the snap, Johnny Knox of the Bears ran down the left sideline, while dangerous returner Devin Hester went to the right sideline, along with eight teammates as blockers. The Packers return team all converged towards Hester, except for Masthay, even though the coverage team knew the play was designed as a punt to the opposite side.
Hester called a fake fair catch on the right sideline, while Knox fielded the punt on the opposite side, along with a sole blocker. Knox scored easily, but the Bears had a holding call on the return that negated the well-designed play.
Three snappers recorded tackles this week, including Don Muhlbach (Lions), Justin Snow (Colts) and Danny Aiken (Patriots). The updated NFL Long Snappers Chart is below.
Week Two is complete and, unlike last week, there were no punt or kick returns. There was the first snapping change of the regular season, at least temporarily. In the beginning of the week, the Bucs waived rookie snapper Christian Yount and replaced him with another rookie, Scott Albritton. The move proved to be a short one, as the Bucs then waived Albritton and brought Yount back later in the week.
A few months ago, it appeared the UFL was not going to happen this season. However, the season did start with four teams, including snappers Rigo Morales (Las Vegas Locomotives), Matt Overton (Omaha Nighthawks), Aaron King (Sacramento Mountain Lions) and Ryan Senser (Virginia Destroyers).
The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Two is below and only two snappers, Jon Condo (Raiders) and Cullen Loeffler (Vikings), recorded a tackle this week.
Week One of the NFL season is now complete and special teams played a record-breaking role. There were a total of eight kicks and punts returned for touchdowns, a new NFL record for a single week. Three snappers, Danny Aiken (Patriots), Jake McQuaide (Rams) and Christian Yount (Buccaneers), made their NFL debuts.
On the tackle front, seven snappers recorded tackles, led by John Denney (Dolphins) and Zak DeOssie (Giants), who each had two solo tackles. All of the tackles are listed in the updated NFL Long Snappers Chart below.
Earlier this year, a story appeared about the role the state of Arizona in producing snappers. Yesterday, Texas was the focus of a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about how the state has produced eight current NFL snappers that attended high school and/or college in the state.
Snappers with a connection to Texas are Jon Dorenbos (Eagles), Justin Drescher (Saints), Thomas Gafford (Chiefs), Clint Gresham (Seahwaks), Cullen Loeffler (Vikings), Don Muhlbach (Lions), Ryan Pontbriand (Browns), Justin Snow (Colts) and Jon Weeks (Texans).
The NFL season commences tonight, with the Saints at the Packers. The snapping situations are all set, at least for now. After the final roster cuts Sunday, the Patriots made another move by claiming rookie Danny Aiken off waivers from the Bills and releasing James Dearth.
Below is the latest NFL Long Snappers Chart heading into Week One.
All NFL teams reduced their rosters to 53 today and, as a result, a number of snappers were involved. Four rookie free agent snappers were waived as Patrick Scales (Ravens), Danny Aiken (Bills), Scott Albritton (Texans) and Kyle Nelson (Saints) were all cut. Jake Ingram, who was signed last week to handle the Jaguars snapping when Jeremy Cain had a back injury flare up, was also waived.
Two rookie free agents, Jake McQuaide (Rams) and Christian Yount (Bucs), each made rosters. The Bucs placed veteran snapper Andrew Economos on the physically unable to perform list due to the lingering effects off an off-season injury.
The NFL Long Snappers Chart will be updated and made available early next week once opening day rosters are finalized.
With 53 man rosters set to become final tomorrow, this week has brought some new and additional support for the long snapping position. Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick has always been a big proponent of snappers, as noted in this prior post. This week, during his press conference in which the addition of James Dearth was announced, Belichick discussed how former Cowboys and Giants snapper Steve DeOssie revolutionized the position.
Belichick believes that DeOssie’s ability to snap and block led to the spread punt formation where the snapper blocks a defender. The entire press conference transcript is worth reviewing for those looking for insight into how the role of the snapper evolved in the mid-80’s to the specialized role it enjoys now.
In addition, EA Sports released the video game Madden NFL 12 this week and the game now includes all NFL long snappers. In the past, some snappers were included in the game, while others were not. EA Sports has now included all snappers and they handle the punt and placement snaps in the game.
NFL rosters have now been reduced to 80 and, as part of the reduction, both rookie and veteran snappers were involved. Among the biggest moves was the Chargers releasing veteran David Binn, who spent 17 seasons and 256 regular season games with the club. Mike Windt, who filled in for Binn and a host of other injured Chargers snappers last season, will assume the snapping duties again this season.
Veteran snapper Matt Katula, who returned to the NFL last season for the Patriots, was also released in favor of James Dearth, who was injured last season after signing with the Chargers. Chris Massey, who was signed just a few days ago by the Panthers, was also released, leaving J.J. Jansen to continue in that role for the Panthers.
Rookie free agents who have been let go in the last few weeks include Wilson Raynor (Jets), Corey Adams (Cowboys), Andrew Schulze (Falcons) and John Stokes (Titans).
Longsnap.com’s NFL Long Snappers Chart will be updated for the start of the regular season after final cuts are made on Saturday.
