Green Bay Packers Add Competition at Long-Snapper

As Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst likes to tell us, roster building is a 365-day-a-year job.

With it looking like the 90-man roster was set for the time being after the team signed Eli Wolf while also releasing Chris Blair late last week, more moves were made on Tuesday by the Green Bay Packers.

The first move was reported by Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, which was that Green Bay had waived offensive tackle Jahmir Johnson with an injury settlement.

The 6’5″ – 300 pound Johnson was a UDFA signing from Texas A&M, who was on the field for 1,653 career snaps, according to PFF ($$), with a bulk of them coming at left tackle. This past season he would allow two sacks and 31 pressures with a PFF run-blocking grade of 71.8. Johnson participated in the Packers rookie minicamp and it is possible that he was injured while there.

Johnson’s release left the Green Bay Packers with an opening and only 89 players on their roster. However, that availability on the roster did not last long, with Jason Hirschhorn of The Leap reporting that the Packers had signed long-snapper Jack Coco, a UDFA from Georgia Tech, who had participated in rookie minicamp earlier this month.

Coco, who stands 6’2″ and weighs 232 pounds, was the Yellow Jackets’ long-snapper for three seasons, totaling 237 career special teams snaps during that span. According to the school’s website, Coco didn’t have an “errant snap” on any field goal or extra point attempts.

In addition to being the team’s long-snapper, in 2020 Coco took on double duty, transitioning to tight end as well. In two seasons, he saw 228 total snaps on offense, with five receptions on five targets for 26 yards. Coco also ranked 13th among all tight ends last season in PFF’s pass-blocking grade.

I have to say, following the draft and wave of UDFA additions, I was quite surprised that Steven Wirtel remained as the only long-snapper on the roster. He, like just about everyone else, was not immune to the Green Bay Packers special teams woes in 2021.

After taking over for Hunter Bradley about halfway through the season, Wirtel had his share of ups and downs with inconsistent snaps and protection issues. In fact, Wirtel was PFF’s third-lowest graded long-snapper last season.

Based on NFL experience alone, Wirtel still likely has the edge this summer over Coco, but regardless of who wins the job, competition will hopefully bring out the best in each, as they say.