Nothing is more important for the Green Bay Packers this offseason than one specific position: long snapper.
Well, that might not be exactly true, but it seems like some Packers fans are (fairly) tired of talking about Aaron Rodgers.
And, in all seriousness, the Packers long-snapping spot has been a revolving door since the team let veteran Brett Goode go after the 2017 season.
If you follow the Packers offseason closely, you might remember names like Joe Fortunato and Steven Wirtel. General manager Brian Gutekunst even used a draft pick trying to solve the problem because they wanted a more athletic snapper than Goode. However, they released seventh-rounder Hunter Bradley before concluding his rookie contract.
Right now, Jack Coco is the only long-snapper on the Packers’ roster. But he’s not a high-level performer at all.
Throughout last season, Coco had several bad snaps — including two really bad ones against the Detroit Lions — and some missed blocking assignments. Punter Pat O’Donnell saved him many times, and O’Donnell’s holding abilities were a definitive reason for the Packers to sign him as an unrestricted free agent.
Sub-par long-snapper play is not a new problem for the Packers.
In 2017, Goode’s last year in Green Bay, the Packers indicated that they wanted to move on, signing Taybor Pepper to compete for the roster spot. However, he didn’t make the cut and finished the season on IR.
They drafted Hunter Bradley in 2018, but they signed Zach Triner off the street, and he was clearly better during the preseason. However, Bradley’s draft status was too much for Triner to overcome and Bradley made the roster.
Green Bay gave Bradley every opportunity to establish himself between 2019 and 2020, but the Packers brought Joe Fortunato in to compete in 2021. Later, they signed Steven Wirtel to the practice squad. During the season, they cut Bradley, promoted Wirtel, and Wirtel ended up being the man responsible for the blocked punt that cost the Packers the playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Last preseason, Wirtel and Coco competed for the job, and the previous failures forced Wirtel out of Green Bay.
The craziest aspect of this is that the Packers have already signed decent-to-good long snappers. Last year, five players who were on Green Bay’s roster at some point were starters anywhere else:
- J.J. Jansen (Carolina Panthers)
- Clark Harris (Cincinnati Bengals)
- Taybor Pepper (San Francisco 49ers)
- Rick Lovato (Philadelphia Eagles)
- Zach Triner (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
- Joe Fortunato and Hunter Bradley also spent time on practice squads around the league.
During last preseason, Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia highlighted Coco’s potential but emphasized he needed to play better.
“I think he’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster, but we’re excited about where he is at this particular point,” Bisaccia said. “I think he understands that he’s competing against 31 other teams. Just because there’s not another one here doesn’t mean we’re not looking at everyone around the league or guys that may not be playing now. So, I think he knows he’s in constant competition.”
And the constant competition concept must apply now. Coco is under contract through 2024, but that shouldn’t guarantee him anything. Spending draft capital on long snappers isn’t a smart strategy in terms of value, but the Packers should absolutely add competition to the roster. It might be an undrafted rookie or a veteran.
Pepper, who the Packers let walk when they drafted Bradley, built a solid career with the San Francisco 49ers and is available now. Maybe Coco will develop throughout training camp and will still be the long-term answer, but competition is important for him to show he can be that.
Long snapper is probably the 53rd priority Brian Gutekunst has to build his roster. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important — and the 2021 elimination game shows how every roster spot matters.
