Tag: long snapper

Falcons 2020 roster breakdown: Special Teams

Younghoe Koo and Ryan Allen brought stability to the Falcons’ special teams situation after poor performance and injuries slowed the group down over the first half of the 2019 season.

Younghoe Koo and Ryan Allen brought stability to the Falcons’ special teams situation after poor performance and injuries slowed the group down over the first half of the 2019 season.

Josh Harris was the model of stability throughout the year regardless of who was kicking, holding or punting. The team has some decisions to make as we enter the 2020 offseason.

After breaking down Atlanta’s quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers/tight ends, defensive backs, defensive line and linebackers, let’s examine the special teams units.

2019 Depth Chart and Results

K Younghoe Koo 

23-for-26 on field goals, 15-for-16 on extra points, onside kick specialist

K Matt Bryant

9-for-14 on field goals, 14-for-15 on extra points

P Ryan Allen

28 punts, 1,172 yards, 37.5 net average, 14 inside 20

P Matt Bosher

9 punts, 377 yards, 36.7 net average, 2 inside 20

P Matt Wile

6 punts, 290 yards, 44.7 net average, 3 inside 20

P Kasey Redfern

9 punts, 371 yards, 36.9 net average, 3 inside 20

Current 2020 Contracts

LS Josh Harris

Signed through 2021 on a veteran minimum salary each year.

Pending Free Agents: What Happens?

K Younghoe Koo

Exclusive Rights Free Agent

This one is an easy call. Koo was an exceptional kickoff guy and did a great job once he had a chance as a kicker. His range is limited to inside of 50, but he only had three misses on his 26 chances. That’s a 90 percent conversion rate. The Falcons could do worse than Koo on a second-year player’s minimum salary deal. This is the definition of low risk, high reward.

P Matt Bosher

Unrestricted Free Agent

Matt Bosher had an average of 41.9 yards per punt before his injury. The problem with keeping Bosher is that his leg looks like it’s finally starting to regress. Atlanta should be happy for the nine years they got out of Bosher and let him walk to another team. He seemingly had a down year in terms of total average, but his career average is closer to 46 yards per punt.

P Ryan Allen

Unrestricted Free Agent

On the flip side, Ryan Allen was one of the best punters the Falcons have had in terms of directional punting and pinning teams deep. On his 28 punts, 14 of them landed inside of the 20 yard line (50 percent). For comparison, even in Bosher’s best season, he had a 47 percent rate during in 2016 and punts inside the 20 just 39 percent of the time.

Possible Cuts

There likely won’t be any cuts in this positional grouping. The Falcons get back a consistent long snapper in Josh Harris at the veteran minimum for his position. They aren’t hurting for $400,000 the way some teams are and would be wise to keep the veteran long snapper.

Free Agents to Consider

K Nick Folk

Nick Folk has had a better career than Younghoe Koo to this point. But Folk is clearly on the downward slide. He did well with the Jets, but failed out in Tampa. That being said, it looked like he got his confidence back in New England after taking 2018 off. Folk connected on 82 percent of his kicks with the Patriots while being perfect on extra points.

P Lachlan Edwards

The Falcons could look towards Lachlan Edwards in free agency. His career average of 45.5 yards per punt is in the top half of the league.

2020 NFL Draft targets

K Rodrigo Blankenship, Georgia

Blankenship is a local Georgia talent who went to Sprayberry High School in Marietta growing up. He’s got massive power in his leg and can be an exceptional kickoff talent in the NFL based on his college results. He also has the power in his leg that Younghoe Koo doesn’t seem to have. There is some concern about his percentage falling year to year, though.

P Drue Chrisman, Ohio State

If the Falcons decide to forgo a punter in free agency, looking towards someone in the late rounds of the draft like Drue Chrisman would be a smart move. He averages over 44 yards per punt nearly every year up in the mid-west. Chrisman should see better averages in the pros in while playing more domes.

Out-of-Box Move to Consider

Trading for K Daniel Carlson from the Raiders

While it’s unlikely the Raiders would want to trade away Carlson, he’s the best option to go after. He has three more years of controllable cheap play and would fit in well with the Falcons. Unfortunately, the value wouldn’t be better for Carlson than it is for Koo. Carlson only hit 19 of his 26 attempts and missed two extra points.

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Casey Kreiter happy to see ex-Broncos punter Marquette King ‘booming balls’ in the XFL

Broncos long snapper Casey Kreiter is happy to see former teammate Marquette King having success in the NFL.

Marquette King is one of the most notable former Broncos playing in the XFL this spring, even if he didn’t last long in Denver.

On the first weekend of XFL games, King was among several ex-Broncos who made headlines. Center Dillon Day went viral after dropping an F-bomb during a live sideline interview and safety Rahim Moore recorded the 10th interception of his professional career.

King now punts for the St. Louis BattleHawks and he was trending on Twitter after booming several powerful kicks in his first XFL game. Casey Kreiter, who snapped for King in Denver during the 2018 season, reacted to the big punts on Twitter.

King’s punts were so good that the league’s official account hyped them up on Twitter. It’s not often that a punter makes highlight reels.

In the third quarter, King had an absolutely perfect punt that would have stopped at the one-yard line if not for a teammate jumping on it.

King punted for the Broncos in four games two years ago before suffering a thigh injury that ended his season and his time in Denver.

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ICYMI: Former Longhorn Nate Boyer featured in Super Bowl commercial

Texas ex Nate Boyer was featured in a Super Bowl commercial courtesy of YouTube.

Former Texas long snapper Nate Boyer appeared in a Super Bowl commercial courtesy of YouTube.

Ahead of the kickoff for Super Bowl LIV, YouTube took viewers behind the scenes of Boyer’s experience with the Texas football program and how he was able to teach himself to become the starting long snapper.

A former United States Army Green Beret, Boyer served for six years including multiple tours overseas before choosing to walk-on at the University of Texas. Prior to joining the Texas football program, Boyer had never played an organized down of football in his life.

Boyer played for the Longhorns from 2010-14, became the starting long snapper for three of those seasons. After a short stint with the Seattle Seahawks in 2015, Boyer turned his focus to making an impact off the field.

What should the Saints do with their 5 restricted free agents?

It’s time for the New Orleans Saints to make contract decisions on restricted free agents like Taysom Hill, Justin Hardee, and Austin Carr.

Many New Orleans Saints players are set to enter unrestricted free agency, giving them the opportunity to negotiate with new teams and potentially land a big payday. However, five of their teammates are going into March’s signing period with restricted free agency status. Here’s what that means.

Restricted free agents can negotiate with other teams, but their current squad can claim the right of first refusal through exercising one of several different one-year contract tenders. But the ability to match contract offers comes with a price.

The latest projections from Over The Cap suggest tender values in the range of $4,667,000 (for first-round pick compensation) to $3,278,000 (second-round pick compensation), and $2,144,000 (for original-round draft pick compensation). Those totals are fully-guaranteed against the salary cap.

New Orleans doesn’t have a good history with restricted free agency. They have only used the lowest tender level in recent memory, and rarely matched opposing contract offers. They let wide receiver Willie Snead leave uncontested when the Baltimore Ravens signed him to a two-year, $7 million deal in 2018. Backup tight end Josh Hill signed a three-year, $7.5 million offer sheet with the Chicago Bears in 2016, but the Saints matched it and extended him again in 2018.

They didn’t even tender defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker back in 2015, despite it only costing about $1.54 million at the time and Walker having shown some rare bright spots in a historically-bad defense (the Detroit Lions signed him to a one-year, $1.75 million deal, and re-upped him the next season). He’s an example of a player the Saints hoped they could keep on a veteran’s minimum salary, which is obviously a riskier option.

But things are projecting differently in 2020. There’s a good chance the Saints exercise one of the more-valuable tender options; in fact, they may have to. They could also work out long-term contract extensions if they so choose; Saints kicker Wil Lutz did just that last year, when he was a restricted free agent. Here are the five Saints players that qualify, and what the team should do with each of them.

Justin Hardee, cornerback

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Hardee’s had an interesting career path, and now he’s one of the Saints’ central special teams aces. He plays often on the punt and kickoff units, and led the team in snaps played in the game’s third phase (362) last season, outpacing even Craig Robertson (324) and Taysom Hill (286). He’s someone the Saints coaches have invested years of development in, and should definitely try to keep around for the future.

The question they have to ask now is how much Hardee’s contributions are worth. He doesn’t play defense (just 37 snaps logged last season) and is still learning the position’s finer points after entering the NFL as a wide receiver. He can’t be counted on just yet to be a top backup behind Marshon Lattimore and Janoris Jenkins. But his presence on special teams speaks for itself, and the Saints might do well to sign him to the lowest contract tender, then wait and see whether the market can set a price on his long-term contract value.

Verdict: Sign him to a right-to-match tender.

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Notre Dame Football: Top Rated Long Snapper Alex Peitsch Signs with Irish

Peitsch committed to Notre Dame back in April and figures to be on the field right away replacing the great John Shannon.

Notre Dame may be regarded as “Tight End U” by some but “Long Snapper U” is starting to make a lot of sense for the Catholic university in South Bend.

Last week John Shannon was awarded the inagural Patrick Mannelly Award for the best long-snapper in the nation.  It was also announced that Shannon would be forgoing his final year of eligibility at Notre Dame and instead beginning his career in law-enforcement.

Worries at long snapper for the Fighting Irish?

Not so fast.

Alex Peitsch of St. John’s College High School in our nation’s capital signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play football at Notre Dame.

Peitsch is ranked by 247Sports as the number-one long-snapper in all of the 2020 recruiting class.

Peitsch committed to Notre Dame back in April and figures to be on the field right away replacing the great John Shannon.

 

Notre Dame Football: John Shannon Wins Inaugural Patrick Mannelly Award

John Shannon is a name only the most doe-hard of Notre Dame fans are probably familiar with even though he has played in every Fighting Irish game over the last three seasons.

John Shannon is a name only the most doe-hard of Notre Dame fans are probably familiar with even though he has played in every Fighting Irish game over the last three seasons.

His most recent game saw him get awarded the game ball because of a huge play he made in determining the victorious outcome at Stanford.

That wasn’t the only hardware Shannon would bring home in 2019 however as Saturday night he was awarded the inaugural Patrick Mannelly Award for being the best senior long snapper in the nation, edging out Liam McCullough of Ohio State and Steven Wirtel, Iowa State.

Taken from the official award website is the following:

Long Snappers don’t make the cover of the program. They’re rarely asked to sign autographs. You don’t typically see them being interviewed before the game. But Long Snappers aren’t driven by these things. Quiet, selfless, focused and courageous, the Long Snapper is content to trade conventional superstardom for the opportunity to do one job very well.  – PatrickMannellyAward.com

Upon reading that I find it fitting Shannon won the award on Saturday of all days. Just hours earlier Brian Kelly announced that Shannon would be passing up his fifth year of eligibility at Notre Dame. It wasn’t because he is trying to make it on an NFL roster, however, it’s because he’s beginning his career in law enforcement.