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Once again this season, special teams have played a key role in the outcome of games.  Poor special teams efforts have plagued the Chargers and Dolphins in recent weeks and other teams, such as the Saints and Raiders, lost early season games due to missed short field goals.

The football stat gurus at Football Outsiders have come up with a new statistic to measure poor special teams play through a number called Special Teams Disasters.  The number includes blocked punts, touchdowns allowed on punt returns and touchdowns alliowed on kickoff returns.  In the first five weeks of the season, the Chargers had 6 STDs.

Football Outsiders has also developed measurements for some positive special teams stats in the form of return tackles (the number of tackles and assists made on kick and punt returns), return stops (when a tackle is made on a return for less than an average return based on the length of the kick or punt and where the returner catches the ball) and return saves (tackles or assists a player makes on a kickoff past the 50-yard line or any punt return of more than 20 yards).

The leaders in each of the categories from 2005-2009 were Brendon Ayanbadejo (78 return tackles), Ayanbadejo (60 return stops) and the leader in return saves with eight was Jets punter Steve Weatherford.

Here is the Week Seven NFL Long Snappers Chart.

Week Seven NFL Long Snappers Chart

Week Seven is now complete and the snapping position remains stable, even in San Diego.  Jake Ingram of the Patriots had some snapping problems against the Chargers, while Cardinals cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had three penalties for being offside trying to block Seahawk kicks.  It turns out the Cardinals believed Seattle snapper Clint Gresham had a hitch in his snapping motion and the Cardinals were going on the first movement of the ball.

Jon Condo of the Raiders had a solo tackle and fumble recovery, while Thomas Gafford (Chiefs) also had a fumbled punt recovery.  Pat Mannelly of the Bears added an assisted tackle.

The Longsnap.blog has changed slightly, as a hosting change forced the blog to move.  As a result, some pages are not fully-functional yet and the weekly snapper chart will not be immediately available.

Veteran NFL special teams coach Russ Purnell is featured in the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine.  Purnell was interviewed as part of the “6 Things You Should Know About” column.  In talking about the various components of the special teams units, Purnell commented that the snapper “is the one I can least afford to take for granted. You don’t know how valuable they are until you have issues.”

Purnell has coached for two Super Bowl teams (Ravens and Colts) and is currently the special teams coach for the Jaguars.

In perhaps another example of how far long snappers have come, noted football magazine publisher Phil Steele has included four snappers in his 2010 Midseason All-American Team.  Steele picks four teams of offensive, defensive and special teams units and the snapping position is included.

The first team snapper is Corey Adams of Kansas State.  Second team is Christian Yount (UCLA), third team is James Winchester (Oklahoma) and the fourth team snapper is Brandon Long (Rice).

Week Six is now complete and marked the debut of rookie Mike Windt, the Chargers fifth snapper this season.  Windt appeared to perform well in his first regular season contest.  The normally reliable Lonie Paxton of the Broncos had a poor field goal against the Jets that prevented the attempt.  The Packers also had a key penalty relating to the new rule regarding lining up over the snapper on a punt that gave the Dolphins the ball back late in the game.

Don Muhlbach of Lions recorded two tackles this week, including a solo stop.  Jon Condo (Raiders), Cullen Loeffler (Vikings), Nick Sundberg (Redskins) and Ken Amato (Titans) each had solo tackles, while Jon Dorenbos (Eagles) had an assisted tackle.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart after Week Six is below.

Week Six Long Snappers Chart

When Longsnap.com began in 2000, one of the unique features in the weekly News and Notes newsletter was a listing of each Division One college snapper by conference.  Compiling snapper information back then was hard, as many teams did not publish depth charts or, in some cases, simply excluded the snapper.

Things have changed since then and, although it is still impossible to find a decent list of every Division One college snapper, it is a bit easier to find and review team depth charts and compile the list.  With the help of an excellent intern, Josh Gibson from Stony Brook University, I am pleased to be able to provide Longsnap.com’s exclusive compilation of each snapper at the Division One level.  Snappers are listed by conference and team, along with their jersey number, height, weight, class year and any additional comments.  The information was based on team depth charts as of early October so there may be a few changes since it was finalized.

2010 College Long Snappers

The Chargers fourth snapper, Ethan Albright, lasted two weeks.  Albright has been released and the Chargers have signed rookie Mike Windt, who played for the University of Cincinnati and was in training camp with the Bengals.  Windt will be the Chargers fifth snapper after David Binn, James Dearth and Ryan Neill were each placed on injured reserve prior to Albright being signed.

Week Five was a slow week for snapper tackles, as the only one to record a statistic on punt coverage was Garrison Sanborn of the Bills, who recovered a fumble.  The Chargers continue to be plagued by critical special teams problems, including two block punts in their loss to the Raiders on Sunday. 

The updated NFL Long Snapper Chart is attached.

Week Five Long Snappers Chart

Scott Albritton, a long snapper from Colorado State and one of the top long snapping prospects for the upcoming NFL Draft, suffered a likely season-ending knee injury last week.  Albritton will be replaced by redshirt freshman Tanner Hedstrom.