you forgot to keep reading....the very next non-bolded words...sheesh.
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Can a center get better at snaps.
- Thread starter Walztrent
- Start date
Makes me wonder if there is internal strife on the oline.
The answer may be yes and it can happen quickly. Many have gone to the "dead snap" technique.
How one technique could end bad snaps forever
One of the most frustrating things in football can be a botched snap, but a decades-old technique is suddenly gaining popularity and changing how the ball gets from the center to the quarterback.www.espn.com
They couldn't snap the ball on target. His offensive coordinator, with each errant Saturday snap, would remind him of that. Seven snaps that season were classified as a disaster.
As Cushing canvassed the snapping landscape in his offseason probe, he noticed Michigan and a few other schools' centers peculiarly palming the football's nose rather than grabbing the laces in shotgun. They flipped and floated it back, allowing it to hang in the air without much rotation. It was a landmark judgment favoring precision over power.
That crude simplicity is the dead snap's most attractive feature. Once the ball is spotted, the center places the back point of the ball in his palm rather than gripping it like a quarterback arming a spiral. The nose is then placed into the ground so the ball is at a 45-degree angle with an inch of the ball grazing the turf. The fingers are spread, usually with one across the laces or seam to help with grip. Then with the wrist locked, the center swings his arm back like a pendulum and releases.
"Life changing," Cushing said.
If the dead snap sounds complicated, centers assure it's much easier than the spiral and avoids a hurtling fastball back to the quarterback. Northwestern center Brad North said his biggest flaw is overthinking, so after a 2015 season of bumbled snaps, he learned the straightforward dead snap in a few weeks. Last season, Northwestern did not have one snap that prematurely ended a play.
Elite programs can often recruit centers with a background in spiral snapping, and coaches usually won't fiddle with a lineman who is comfortable with his delivery. But a lot of schools have to fit a lineman in at center and then guide him. North was a high school tackle who had never snapped.
"I can teach a 5-year-old," Drevno said. "That's how easy it is."
That limited learning curve changes roster dynamics and opens up recruiting. Northwestern now has six linemen who can snap, opening up scholarships and insulating them from a rash of injuries.
"As an O-line coach, on day one you get rid of half the guys who can't snap the ball, so you sleep better when instead of two centers you have six," said John Kuceyeski, a Cornell assistant who spent time in the Big Ten, Big 12 and MAC. "I make all my guys [dead] snap now
Obviously they don't want him dead snapping. Or he would be doing it. It really is pretty easy to do with a little practice. It doesn't get back as fast and doesn't put the ball in a great spot to throw immediately most of the time.
The difference in time and position would have a heck of a lot less impact than these god awful snaps CJ is chucking. They should absolutely go to the dead snap until he can figure it out.
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You're spot on with this assessment. He's not transferring his practice snaps to game snaps. This is why I don't think they will get any better.I was a 3 year starter in HS at center, that was before shotgun was in wide use. I did snap punts and PATs also. It is something that can be learned, but some are just naturally better at it. You have to think of it as passing a football between your legs.
My son is the starting center on his HS team and they are exclusively shot gun. He has had maybe 3-4 errant snaps all year. When I say errant I mean a little high or low, nothing like Jurgens has done. Takes after the ole man.
Jurgens is worried more about his blocking assignment than he is about getting the snap done correctly first. I am sure he is spending a lot of extra time practicing his snapping before and after practice. I would imagine that his snapping looks fine during practice. It is probably something that rears itself during game time situations.
"Matt Farniok was straight to the point: Redshirt freshman center Cameron Jurgens needs to snap the ball better, and it's on not only Jurgens but the rest of the Husker frontline to figure out how to improve.
"Right now it's just, we have to figure out a way to get it right," said Farniok, NU's junior right tackle and captain. "There's too many snaps that are going wild, that are going long, that are messing up the reads, and we have to find a way to fix it. It's on all of us. We've got to find some type of way to get those snaps right to the chest.
"There's no excuse for it now. Heading into Week 7, we need perfect snaps every time. That's the No. 1 role of a center and that's what we expect from our center. He knows he needs to fix it and he's been working on it."
journalstar.com
"Right now it's just, we have to figure out a way to get it right," said Farniok, NU's junior right tackle and captain. "There's too many snaps that are going wild, that are going long, that are messing up the reads, and we have to find a way to fix it. It's on all of us. We've got to find some type of way to get those snaps right to the chest.
"There's no excuse for it now. Heading into Week 7, we need perfect snaps every time. That's the No. 1 role of a center and that's what we expect from our center. He knows he needs to fix it and he's been working on it."
Red Report: 'No excuse' for wayward snaps; Frost says RB Washington must respond after suspension
Matt Farniok was straight to the point: Redshirt freshman center Cameron Jurgens needs to snap the ball better, and it's on not only him but the rest of the Husker
Dont know about that but with a linebacker or nose tackle trying to get by him as he snaps has to linger on his mind. Its all about the pressure
I think we should bring him in to work with the kid.
I'd be surprised if they haven't tried it out in practice. While the snaps get there slower, the timing can be adjusted if they are at least consistent. As far as not being in position to throw immediately, that's true of pretty much every shotgun snap.
This problem hits VERY close to home for me this season. My team's center just started playing football in the spring. Late in the spring, we recognized that he could actually shotgun snap the ball very well.
We came into the fall expecting to be able to run more of our offense out of the shotgun. His snaps were perfect while warming up before practice. They were perfect during drills with no opposition. Once we lined up a defender across from him, he started launching the ball over the QB's head.
This kid also does the long snapping for punts AMD FGs/PATs, and he is spot on nearly every time (he had one bad punt snap all season). But no matter what we did to work with him, his regular shotgun snaps were a mess during games. We went under center almost exclusively for the final 2/3 of the season because I couldn't risk putting our offense in a bad situation. It was so terribly frustrating, so I kind of understand what the Husker staff must be feeling.
Hopefully Jurgens figures it out, and figures it out soon. It's been very damaging to the offense.
That was a good article and now you make me wonder why jurgens isn’t trying this. At this point I would thinkThe answer may be yes and it can happen quickly. Many have gone to the "dead snap" technique.
How one technique could end bad snaps forever
One of the most frustrating things in football can be a botched snap, but a decades-old technique is suddenly gaining popularity and changing how the ball gets from the center to the quarterback.
They couldn't snap the ball on target. His offensive coordinator, with each errant Saturday snap, would remind him of that. Seven snaps that season were classified as a disaster.
As Cushing canvassed the snapping landscape in his offseason probe, he noticed Michigan and a few other schools' centers peculiarly palming the football's nose rather than grabbing the laces in shotgun. They flipped and floated it back, allowing it to hang in the air without much rotation. It was a landmark judgment favoring precision over power.
That crude simplicity is the dead snap's most attractive feature. Once the ball is spotted, the center places the back point of the ball in his palm rather than gripping it like a quarterback arming a spiral. The nose is then placed into the ground so the ball is at a 45-degree angle with an inch of the ball grazing the turf. The fingers are spread, usually with one across the laces or seam to help with grip. Then with the wrist locked, the center swings his arm back like a pendulum and releases.
"Life changing," Cushing said.
If the dead snap sounds complicated, centers assure it's much easier than the spiral and avoids a hurtling fastball back to the quarterback. Northwestern center Brad North said his biggest flaw is overthinking, so after a 2015 season of bumbled snaps, he learned the straightforward dead snap in a few weeks. Last season, Northwestern did not have one snap that prematurely ended a play.
Elite programs can often recruit centers with a background in spiral snapping, and coaches usually won't fiddle with a lineman who is comfortable with his delivery. But a lot of schools have to fit a lineman in at center and then guide him. North was a high school tackle who had never snapped.
"I can teach a 5-year-old," Drevno said. "That's how easy it is."
That limited learning curve changes roster dynamics and opens up recruiting. Northwestern now has six linemen who can snap, opening up scholarships and insulating them from a rash of injuries.
"As an O-line coach, on day one you get rid of half the guys who can't snap the ball, so you sleep better when instead of two centers you have six," said John Kuceyeski, a Cornell assistant who spent time in the Big Ten, Big 12 and MAC. "I make all my guys [dead] snap now
Anything would help. From what I read there isn’t much advantage from spiral to dead snapping it. I had no clue there was such a thing thanks.
It has nothing to do with how he is holding the ball. The dead snap is definitely an alternative, and is something I've encouraged my centers to try. But Cam's bad snaps arent typically due to blitz or "pressure." In many cases, he is rushing his snaps when he has to reach block defenders. The game is moving very fast for him right now and the only thing that will help is reps, experience, and confidence.
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Yep. So in answer to the OP, "YES."
About the time the season is over he might show some improvement. But some never do. Either way, we put this season in danger.
And I don't put the blame on Jurgens. He was directed to be the center by the coaches and they are the ones keeping him in there. I would bet anything he is trying as best he can to make good snaps. Sometimes its just not in the DNA, and therefore we should be looking toward the coaching.
