With NFL training camps opening in a few weeks, the number of teams with an extra snapper is decreasing. In the last few weeks the Rams (Clint Mower) and Lions (Sam Scroggins) each released a snapper. Heading into camp, just the Ravens, Bengals, Saints and Steelers have more than one player at the snapper position.
The Canadian Football League season is now underway and the eight snappers are all Canadian non-import players. Below are the snappers for each CFL club.
British Columbia 70 Dan McCullough
Calgary 56 Randy Chevrier
Edmonton 53 Tim St. Pierre
Hamilton 51 Jordan Matechuk
Montreal 37 Martin Bedard
Saskatchewan 59 Jocelyn Frenette
Toronto 82 Chad Rempel
Winnipeg 65 Adam Bestard
NFLDraftScout.com does an excellent job of evaluating and ranking long snappers and they have just updated their rankings of long snappers for the 2011 NFL Draft. Below are the 16 snappers that have been ranked so far.
1 Christian Yount LS UCLA 6-0 240
2 Keenan Bratcher LS Memphis 6-2 235
3 Patrick Scales LS Utah State 6-4 228
4 Danny Aiken LS Virginia 6-4 260
5 Neal Dahlman LS Bowling Green 6-1 240
6 Aaron Feld LS Mississippi State 6-1 225
7 Cooper Stephenson LS Southern California 6-3 215
8 Scott Albritton LS Colorado State 6-3 228
9 Zach Enyeart LS Washington State 6-1 257
10 Jordan Van Royen LS Wyoming 6-0 234
11 Jake Ekkens LS Central Michigan 6-4 245
12 Jerry Barlow LS Temple 6-3 215
13 Zach Nolan LS Stanford 6-4 226
14 Brandon Long LS Rice 6-0 225
15 Kurt Schnittger LS Grand Valley State 6-3 255
16 Andrew Schulze LS Iowa 6-5 260
There were a number of snapping transactions this week. The Falcons released undrafted rookie Justin Drescher from Colorado, while the Bucs cut Chris Mauriello from Penn State. The Dolphins signed veteran snapper John Denney to a new contract that lasts until 2013.
The Steelers made an interesting move this week by signing linebacker/snapper Matt Stewart. Stewart has not played in an NFL regular season game since 2006 and was primarily a linebacker with the Falcons and Browns. Stewart will compete at the snapper spot with veteran snapper Greg Warren, who was injured last season and replaced by Jared Retkofsky. Prior to Stewart’s signing, the Steelers waived Retkofsky, who has filled in for Warren over the past two seasons and also snapped in the UFL last season.
There have been two additional snapper signings in the last few weeks. Both involve street free agents from prior Draft years who had not previously signed an NFL contract. The Rams signed Clint Mower of Utah, who was elgible for last year’s Draft, and is the only healthy snapper for the Rams as veteran Chris Massey recovers from last season’s injury. The Bucs signed Chris Mauriello, who previously did some snapping at Penn State.
Of the nine snappers who have signed contracts since the end of the Draft, six of them participated in former NFL special teams coach Gary Zauner’s two combines. Justin Drescher (Falcons), Morgan Cox (Ravens) and Sam Scroggins (Lions) were at Zauner’s College Senior Specialists Combine, while Jon Weeks (Texans), along with Mower and Mauriello attended the Free Agent Specialists Combine.
The updated snapper chart is attached below.
Things have slowed down a bit for the NFL and the snapping position. In the last few weeks, the only transaction involved the Seahawks waiving former CFL snapper Pat MacDonald, leaving Matt Overton as the only snapper on the roster. The updated snapper chart, along with the names of all current NFL special teams coaches, is linked below.
There have been two additional snapper signings in the last few days, as the Seahawks re-signed Matt Overton, who was waived by the team earlier this year, and the Texans added street free agent and former Baylor snapper Jon Weeks. Weeks is the smallest snapper in the NFL right now at 5’9”.
With these latest signings, as well as the signings of college free agents right after the conclusion of the NFL Draft, below is a chart of snappers by team as training camps approach.
There has been one additional snapper signing confirmed, as the Lions have added Sam Scroggins from West Virginia State. Scroggins is the fifth snapper to sign a free agent contract since the end of the Draft. A couple of snappers have earned tryouts for mini-camp, including Matt Wigley of San Jose State (49ers) and Tom Harrington of Western Michigan (Bears).
I have been able to confirm a few free agent snapper signings since the end of the Draft. Clint Gresham of TCU signed with the Saints, Mike Windt of Cincinnati signed with the Bengals, Morgan Cox of Tennessee signed with the Ravens and Justin Drescher of Colorado signed with the Falcons. There may be some more signings and tryouts to come and I will post them as they are confirmed.
Longsnap.com 