Since the Forum has slowed considerably post-Draft, I thought we could get a little camp hype going. One player that stood out as an interesting prospect is David Mackie out of the Canadian Western University.
Why I find him interesting, aside from the Canadian rules he played under in college, is that he could provide significant value as a versatile player. It's remarkable to me that a guy like Zak DeOssie still holds a roster spot in today's NFL when he provides minimal value outside of longsnapping.
With very good size (6'3" 245) and what appears to be solid mobility, Mackie looks the part. From the minimal highlight cut ups available on YouTube, he appears to be a willing and capable blocker at the FB position and provides consistent longsnapping duties.
My thought is, if a guy like Mackie can show more than just longsnapping, this could be a huge opportunity to open a roster spot by allowing the Giants to move on from the ancient DeOssie and potentially feel compelled to do the same with Shane Smith.
I know this is a long shot and based on minimal intel, but I can't help but think a younger athlete with duel skill sets could help the Giants keep an extra guy for the OL or defensive backfield that could prove useful during the long season.
Food for thought.
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The bigger issue, though, is injuries. An in-game injury to your long-snapper disrupts two critical units - punts and placements - and few teams have confidence in their emergency snappers. Relative to the value of the 53rd roster spot or the 46th shirt, most of the League has concluded that exposing the long-snapper to heavy pounding just isn’t good risk management.
That said, I hope our latest Canadian import excels.
And,Zak is always one of the first guys down on ST tackles. No need to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed!
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Prior to Zak our long snapping was a huge weakness. As a matter of fact, it was so bad it cost us the 2003 playoff game vs SF
And,Zak is always one of the first guys down on ST tackles. No need to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed!
This.
The first thing I thought reading the OP's post was "Trey Junkin"... DeOssie has been very reliable over the years. And now there are so many other issues the coaching staff needs to focus on, long snapper need not be one of them...
Eric's roster page says that Zak is 34. He cannot play forever.
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Steve in South Jersey said:
Age per se is not a big issue. L. P. Ladouceur is 37. Jon Dorenbos was still worth a draft pick in a trade at 37, though he had to retire when his Saints physical revealed an aortic aneurysm. Don Muhlbach and Jon Condo turn 37 in August. Brett Goode and Clark Harris are the same age as DeOssie. A ton of other long-snappers are north of 30. Rule changes to protect them from head and neck injuries have made long-snappers the "left-handed relief pitchers" of football: they can make a nice living into middle age, with a fairly light workload.
DeOssie is currently in the second year of a relatively generous two-year deal (though it's chickenfeed by NFL standards). He now has sufficient seniority to earn the top vet-min salary, which will be $1.03MM in 2019 . So, as long as his surgically-repaired wrist and other body parts hold up and he wants to keep playing, the Giants can sign him to one-year qualifying deals and get about $400K in cap relief.
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Prior to Zak our long snapping was a huge weakness. As a matter of fact, it was so bad it cost us the 2003 playoff game vs SF
And,Zak is always one of the first guys down on ST tackles. No need to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed!
Something that's always overlooked by the "get rid of DeOssie" crowd and their relentless posts. And you don't keep a replacement on your 53 man roster. If Mackie shows he can cover as well as snap, perhaps there's a spot on the practice squad for him.
I forgot which player it was(maybe Munson?) but at one of the recent pre-draft camps one player was practicing long snapper as he was reportedly the backup and the reports were not pretty.
That said, I wouldn’t get rid of DeOssie unless this kid totally outshines him.
Exactly. Some of the folks responding in this thread are acting like DeOssie is the only one who's ever gotten reps longsnapping.
This is not an anti-DeOssie thread. I'm merely pointing out that if you have a young, athletic and multi-talented person who can assume the roles of multiple positions, it opens opportunity for other areas.
Re: Injuries - Yes, fullback is a physical position (I played it through 4 year of college), but in today's NFL you're playing maybe 25% of snaps. It's not like a RB who is carrying the load and shouldering the brunt of the contact on each down. Also, saying "what if he gets injured" could be said for every position on the field, including DeOssie as he's flying down on ST to make a tackle.
As for Trey Junkin - let it go boys & girls. Let it go.
And we still should have won that game!!!! If Fassel had just gotten in the refs ear to correct a call at the end, we win. WTH. Now I'm going to be pissed off for the rest of the day. thanks.