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The end of the NFL regular season is approaching and Week Fifteen is now complete.  Zak DeOssie of the Giants had a tough game, as a high punt snap may have contributed to the game-winning punt return in the loss to the Eagles.  DeOssie was also the last defender with a chance to tackle returner DeSean Jackson, but was blocked on the return.

Earlier in the week, Pat Mannelly of the Bears was honored by being selected to the USA Football/NFLPA All-Fundamentals Team in recognition of his sound technique.

On the tackle front, only Chris Massey of the Rams recorded a tackle this week, a solo tackle to give him three on the season.  The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Fifteen is below.

Week Fifteen NFL Long Snappers Chart

With college bowl season underway, some NFL long snapping prospects for the 2011 NFL Draft have at least one more game, while others will play in college all-star games.  Among the snapping prospects playing in a bowl game include Andrew Schulze (Iowa), Aaron Feld (Mississippi State) and Corey Adams (Kansas State).

The Senior Bowl, as well as the East-West Shrine and NFLPA All-Games, will also provide additional exposure for snapping prospects, along with the NFL Scouting Combine in February.  Longsnap.com will have additional information once participating snapper names are confirmed.

Football writer Phil Steele has just announced his Postseason All-America Team and has a snapper on each of his four squads.  Corey Adams of Kansas State is the 1st Team snapper, while James Winchester (Oklahoma), Brandon Long (Rice) and Christian Yount (UCLA) are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th teamers.

Steele’s Midseason list had Adams followed by Yount, Winchester and Long.

Week Fourteen included some rare snapping problems.  Ken Amato of the Titans sailed a punt snap over the head of his punter in Thursday’s loss to the Colts, while Redskins snapper Nick Sundberg had some issues on short snaps Sunday. 

On punt coverage, client Brett Goode (Packers) and Andrew Economos (Bucs) each had two tackles, with Goode recording two solo tackles and Economos talying a solo and assisted tackle.  Zak DeOssie of the Giants had a solo tackle, while Thomas Gafford of the Chiefs had an assisted tackle.  Last week, I missed Joe Zelenka of the Falcons and his solo tackle, which has now been updated on the NFL Long Snappers Chart below.

Week Fourteen NFL Long Snappers Chart

Yesterday’s edition of The Washington Post had an excellent feature story on kickers by Michael Leahy.  Leahy’s piece, called “Kicked Around:Inside Football’s Loneliest Position”, describes the trials and tribulations of place kickers, including the up and down career of current Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff.  Also included in the story was Graham Gano of the Redskins, who ironically missed two key field goals and an extra point in yesterday’s loss to the Bucs.

Snappers can certainly relate to the story of how kickers have a difficult journey finding and maintaining employment in the NFL.  The story concludes with a telling comment from Cundiff’s wife, who stated “It’s always about the next kick.”

Week Thirteen is now complete.  The snapping position remains stable with no significant performance or injury issues.

Earlier this week, the Chiefs announced a two-year contract extension for Thomas Gafford, who is now under contract through 2012.  Pat Mannelly of the Bears set a record in last week’s game against the Eagles by playing in his 200th regular season game, which is a Bears record.

On the tackle front, Mike Leach of the Cardinals leads all snappers with seven tackles, five of which are solo tackles after adding a solo stop this week.  Clark Harris (Bengals), Zak DeOssie (Giants) and Mike Windt (Chargers) also had solo tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Thirteen is below.

NFL Thirteen NFL Long Snappers Chart

Week Twelve is in the books and Saints rookie snapper Justin Drescher made his NFL debut on Thursday.  Only the Patriots (two), Saints (three) and Chargers (five) have used different snappers this season.

Clark Harris of the Bengals had a solo tackle in punt coverage this week, while Greg Warren (Steelers), Garrison Sanborn (Bills), JJ Jansen (Panthers) and Mike Windt (Chargers) each added assisted tackles.  The NFL Long Snapper Chart after Week Twelve is below.

Week Twelve NFL Long Snappers Chart

Week Eleven brought a snapping change that proved to be a temporary one.  The Saints were forced to put veteran snapper Jason Kyle on injured reserve just prior to Sunday’s game and signed former Patriot snapper Jake Ingram on short notice.  Ingram had some issues in Sunday’s game and, after some additional workouts yesterday, the Saints have signed Justin Drescher, a rookie from Colorado who was in camp with the Falcons this summer.

John Denney of the Dolphins (two solo) and Mike Leach of the Cardinals (two assisted) each recorded two tackles this week, while Morgan Cox (Ravens), Cullen Loeffler (Vikings) and Jon Dorenbos (Eagles) had solo stops.  The NFL Long Snappers Chart through Week Eleven is attached below.

Week Eleven NFL Long Snappers Chart

Week Ten of the NFL season is complete.  Matt Katula made his snapping debut this season with the Patriots on Sunday night.  Other than the Patriots move, the snapping position has remained stable.  Just one snapper, Lonie Paxton of the Broncos, had a solo tackle in punt coverage.

The Week Ten NFL Long Snapper Chart is below.

Week Ten NFL Long Snappers Chart

Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News is mentioned here frequently, as he does an excellent job of covering the NFL  generally and special teams play in particular through his end of season ranking of each special teams unit. 

In his regular column this week, Gosselin previews the 2011 NFL Draft for specialists and includes two snappers.  Gosselin, based on his sources, has ranked Andrew Schulze (Iowa) and Zach Enyeart (Washington State) as the top snappers for the Draft in April.