Only a handful of long snappers have ever been drafted before, so Jimmy Landes didn't expect to get a phone call until after the 2016 NFL Draft was over. Instead the Detroit Lions scooped him up in the sixth round, something he didn't expect at all.
Even Jimmy Landes was surprised the Lions drafted long snapper Jimmy Landes
The Lions spent a sixth-round pick on a long snapper, which is a rare way to spend a draft pick.
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“I was very surprised,” Landes admitted to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com, shortly after the pick was made. “I was expecting free agency, just because I know how rare long snappers get drafted. I wasn’t expecting anything in the draft.”
Instead the Baylor long snapper was taken at No. 210 overall, Detroit’s second-to-last selection in the draft. But Landes had good reason to expect to reach undrafted free agency.
The few NFL long snappers added to rosters using draft picks are typically selected to play a different position. New York Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie was taken as a linebacker in the 2007 NFL Draft, and former players Ryan Pontbriand and Brad St. Louis also earned long snapping jobs after getting drafted at other positions.
Tyler Schmitt was the first pure long snapper ever drafted when the Seattle Seahawks took him in 2008 and the New England Patriots grabbed one in 2015, taking Joe Cardona with a fifth-round pick.
It’s not a terrible idea, either. The final rounds of the NFL Draft are typically used to fill the final spots on the roster and often involve finding players who can contribute on special teams. It’s also pretty disastrous to have a bad long snapper, and they’re pretty close to irreplaceable if an injury happens mid-game.
So if Landes can secure the starting job away from incumbent Don Muhlbach, then why wouldn't it be worth it to acquire an upgrade at any position on the roster with the No. 210 pick?
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