Tag: Greg Tarr

2023 Season Countdown: #58 Greg Tarr

Name: Greg Tarr
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 216 lbs.
High school: Washington (MI) Romeo
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #45
Last year: I ranked Tarr #65 and said he would be a backup long snapper (LINK). He played in ten games and started nine of them.
TTB Rating: N/A

Here’s what I said last year when I ranked Tarr #65 in the countdown:

A backup long snapper is completely and utterly useless on game days . . . until he isn’t.

And it turned out he wasn’t completely and utterly useless, because starting long snapper William Wagner tore his ACL a month into the season. Tarr stepped in and didn’t miss a beat. Freshman preferred walk-on Evan Boutorwick never even got a sniff of the field. Sometimes a backup long snapper is noticeable, but if you told Michigan fans that Tarr started every game last season, very few would probably remember that the guy in there from October onward was a different guy.

With the advancements in medicine over the past decade or two, I expect Wagner to be back to full go by the season. When Michigan opens up against East Carolina, it will have been eleven months since Wagner tore his ACL. Most guys seem to be ready in eight or nine months these days (on the “In the Trenches” podcast, Jake Butt just talked about how his first ACL recovery only took about six months). I’m bumping Tarr up a little bit just in case Wagner has some lingering issues, but I would expect Wagner – who has been the primary starter for the past two seasons – to reclaim his job for 2023.

Prediction: Backup long snapper

2022 Season Countdown: #65 Greg Tarr

Name: Greg Tarr
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 207 lbs.
High school: Washington (MI) Romeo
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #45
Last year: I ranked Tarr #80 and said he would be a backup long snapper (LINK). He did not play in any games.
TTB Rating: N/A

A backup long snapper is completely and utterly useless on game days . . .

. . . until he isn’t.

Will Wagner has Michigan’s long snapping job locked down. Tarr has spent the past two years on campus without seeing the field. Michigan also brought in preferred walk-on Evan Boutorwick in the class of 2022. So how valuable is Tarr, and would he even be the #2 guy? I have to be honest that I don’t know the depth chart of the backup long snappers, but I’m guessing the more experienced guy would be the first one on the field if something happens to Wagner.

Prediction: Backup long snapper

2021 Season Countdown: #80 Greg Tarr

Name: Greg Tarr
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 200 lbs.
High school: Washington (MI) Romeo
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt freshman
Jersey number: #36
Last year: I did not rank Tarr. He redshirted.
TTB Rating: N/A

Michigan has just two long snappers on the roster, Tarr and last year’s starter, William Wagner. It’s not often that the backup guy matters, but it’s also not often that the #80 player in the countdown matters, either. (Last year it was the great Carl Myers!) So we’re still in the mostly irrelevant portion of the countdown, and at 6’2″ and 200 lbs., Tarr is pretty light to get on the field. They’re not supposed to be hit, but they still get bumped sometimes and they have to be able to tackle, too. So Tarr is probably a little ways away from playing unless Wagner gets hurt.

Prediction: Backup long snapper