Scott Sypniewski (image via Michigan Daily)
Name: Scott Sypniewski
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 231 lbs.
High school: Ottawa (IL) Marquette
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #31
Last year: I ranked Sypniewski #26 and said he would be the starting long snapper (LINK). He started twelves games at long snapper.
A lot of people probably don’t know the name of their favorite team’s long snapper, and it’s usually best that way. A lot of Michigan fans probably still don’t know Sypniewski’s name . . . but they know his most famous play. Most of his 2016 season went off without a hitch, but late in the game against Michigan State, an errant punt snap turned Michigan’s world upside down. The Wolverines had led for the entire game, and with 10 seconds remaining and a one-score lead, Sypniewski’s snap to punter Blake O’Neill sailed low and to the right. O’Neill dropped the snap, still tried to punt it despite twirling in a circle, and watched the Spartans score the game-winning touchdown with no time left on the clock. Sypniewski may have been the victim of a personal foul when an MSU rusher rammed into him, and he ended up hurting his thumb on the play. (If you want to watch the play, here’s the LINK but I won’t torture everyone.)
Related or not, Rivals reported this off-season that Sypniewski might be looking to transfer and could play elsewhere this season. It appears he will continue his career at Michigan, and that story seemed a little far-fetched since I can’t remember a single case where a long snapper transferred schools. Michigan does have a decent backup snapper in Andrew Robinson (whom I did not bother profiling in this year’s countdown), but Sypniewski will presumably continue in his starting role this season. Let’s hope he got his mulligan out of the way and has a forgettable future career at the University of Michigan.
Prediction: Starting long snapper
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Yea right, the story seems a bit far fetched because no school in their right mind would offer a scholarship to a long-snapper. Oh wait.
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Based on what happened last year, do you think M would miss him much if he was gone?
To me anyway, that seems like an important consideration in the rankings.
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I don’t know if Michigan would miss him, but they might miss him if his backup is worse than him… It’s tough to rank long snappers, because it’s almost impossible to know what the #2 and #3 guys can do.
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I was thinking he missed time last year injured, but I guess not.
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