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Each year, the experts at FootballOutsiders.com closely examine all aspects of the NFL game.  Special teams is no exception and the final rankings for the 2009 NFL Regular Season are complete.  Football Outsiders analyzes a variety of special teams categories and also factors in such things as weather conditions.

This year, the top five units were Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Chicago and Tampa Bay.  In 2008, both Cleveland and Chicago were also in the top five, while Minnesota was dead last.  The bottom five this year were New Orleans, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Detroit and, in the last place spot, Green Bay.

With the regular season concluded, it is not uncommon to see many special teams coaches fired and, in some cases, hired elsewhere.  To date, the special teams coaches in Buffalo (Bobby April), Detroit (Stan Kwan), Pittsburgh (Bob Ligashesky) and San Francisco (Al Everest) have been let go, while new staffs are being sought in Seattle (Bruce DeHaven) and Washington (Danny Smith).  It is also expected that Bucs special teams coach Rich Bisaccia will move to the college ranks at Tennessee.

With Alabama’s victory over Texas last night, the college football season has come to a close.  The snappers in last night’s game, Greg Smith of Texas and Brian Selmon of Alabama, were the subject of a USA Today article yesterday.  As usual, the focus was on the quiet but critical roles snappers play in the success of a team.

With the regular season concluded, attention will now turn to the college all-star games and then the Combine in February.  As for snappers, there are a handful of draft-eligible long snappers with a chance to get into a training camp in 2010.  To date, TCU snapper Clint Gresham appears to be the only snapper invited to the Combine.

The NFL regular season is now complete and the playoffs start next Saturday.  Client Justin Snow of the Colts played in his 160th consecutive game Sunday and now trails only Peyton Manning for the Colts all-time game streak.  Snow’s accomplishments were featured in a story this weekend in the Indianapolis Star that describes how Snow has become a complete snapper by snapping well, blocking and being able to get downfield and cover.  Dave Binn of the Chargers played in his 178th consecutive game, tying the Charger record.

In game action, Raiders snapper Jon Condo had another solo tackle and finished tops among all snappers in punt tackles with ten total, seven of which were solo stops.  Pat Mannelly of the Bears added an assisted tackle.  Normally reliable Ravens snapper Matt Katula appears to still be bothered by an arm injury, as he had a few low snaps on placements.

Below is the final NFL Long Snapper chart for the 2009 regular season.  It is also available on the NFL Long Snappers page.

NFL Long Snappers Chart-2009 Final

Week Sixteen is complete and it appears there will be no changes at the snapping position after a few weeks of frequent transactions.  In game action, Chiefs snapper Thomas Gafford had a high punt snap over the head of his punter that led to a Bengals field goal.  Matt Katula of the Ravens was able to snap despite continued problems with his right wrist and forearm.

A number of snappers recorded tackles this week, led by Zak DeOssie of the Giants who had two solo tackles and an assist.  Don Muhlbach (Lions),  Lonie Paxton (Broncos), Cullen Loeffler (Vikings) and Pat Mannelly (Bears) each had solo tackles, while client Justin Snow (Colts) added an assist.  The updated NFL Long Snappers Chart  is now available on the NFL Long Snappers page.

The Lions have released veteran snapper Nate Hodel as Don Muhlbach is ready to return after missing Week Fifteen with a concussion.  In addition, Matt Katula continues to be bothered by an elbow injury and the Ravens have added rookie Nick Sundberg, who spent the season in the UFL, to the practice squad just in case.

The NFL Long Snappers Chart has been updated to include all of the latest snapping changes and can be viewed at the NFL Long Snappers page on Longsnap.com

Last night’s post summarized a strange week in the snapping world and the latest changes at the snapping position.  On the positive side, a number of snappers recorded tackles in Week Fifteen, led by Thomas Gafford (Chiefs) with two solo stops.  Matt Katula (Ravens), JJ Jansen (Panthers), client Brett Goode (Packers), client Justin Snow (Colts), Jeremy Cain (Jaguars), Cullen Loeffler (Vikings) and Jon Condo (Raiders), the current tackle leader, all had solo tackles.

The NFL Long Snappers chart is now updated with the most current tackle figures.  The chart will be updated again later this week to reflect the latest snapper changes in Seattle with Jeff Robinson and Pittsburgh with Jared Retkofsky.  In addition, Nate Hodel is currently the replacement for Don Muhlbach in Detroit and will be added to the chart if Muhlbach remains out again this week.

Week Fifteen had a number of developments, prompting an early post to keep readers up to speed.  There were a number of mishaps in the punt game and on kicks, some of which were bad snaps, poor holds or simply missed kicks.  In addition, two snappers were lost for the season.

Kevin Houser of the Seahawks left the game against the Bucs with what was later determined to be a collapsed lung.  The replacement ended up being cornerback Kelly Jennings, who weighs about 180 pounds, but was the best alternative among linebacker Will Herring and Owen Schmitt.  His lone punt snap was a good one, but underscores the lack of depth teams face when the regular snapper goes down.  The Seahawks are expected to bring back Jeff Robinson for the third time in three seasons.

Steelers snapper Greg Warren suffered a torn ACL on the game-ending extra point against the Packers.  Warren, who suffered a similar injury to his other leg last year, will be replaced again by Jared Retkofsky, who snapped in the UFL this season.  Retkofsky won a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers last season.

Tomorrow’s post will include any additional snapping developments and the tackle stats from Week Fifteen.

The December 21, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated is out now and features numerous articles about punters and punting.   Among the stories are a close examination of a so-called “Perfect Game” earlier this season when the Browns beat the Bills, due in large part to the punting skills of Browns’ punter Dave Zastudil.  Sports Illustrated also developed its own punter ratings, based on the quarterback rating formula.

After evaluating a variety of criteria, Mat McBriar of the Cowboys had the highest rating of 41.24 among all punters with a minimum of 40 punts through December 7th.  Next was Ben Graham of the Cardinals with 39.76 and Dustin Colquitt of the Chiefs with a 39.22 rating.  Jeremy Kapinos of the Packers was ranked last at 25.98.

Here is a link to the ratings and the rest of the punting articles are also available at si.com.

SI’s Punter Ratings

Veteran snapper Nathan Hodel signed with the Lions today in case Don Muhlbach cannot snap Sunday.  Hodel was released by the Patriots on August 31st after spending the last seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.  Hodel was one of the few remaining veteran free agent snappers.

Client Bryan Pittman was re-signed by the Texans this afternoon after a snapping competition with former Steelers snapper Jared Retkofsky.  Pittman spent the month of November with the Falcons before being released on December 1st.  Pittman was also in training camp with the Seahawks this season after serving as the Texans long snapper since 2003.