Comments on: Link: Is There Life After Dearth?

By: NorCal

NorCal — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:40:37 +0000

Dearth is an excellent long snapper. Maybe he did have one or possibly two bad snaps this year. But if my memory serves me correctly, those are the only one or two bad snaps this guy has had his entire nine years with the team. Every team has a dedicated long snapper. Purdum is a practice squad player, so it would be hard to say how he would do, but a little competition is not a bad thing, and might serve to re-focus Dearth. Also, I had no idea his mother died sometime this season.

By: brian311

brian311 — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:54:18 +0000

can this kid from KC do anything else in addition to snapping?

By: Colin Waters

Colin Waters — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:42:56 +0000

@ JoeMustGo,

“Can’t afford to tie up a roster spot on someone who plays such a limited role.”

Just wait until your snapper turns to ****. Also long snapping is the matter between a blocked punt of field goal and takes a special person to do so.

By: Colin Waters

Colin Waters — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:41:25 +0000

Tanner Purdum is a fine long snapper. He was scouted a few times at his days back at Baker University where I was did a feature on him, and also had the privilege of watching him play and being his sports information director.

And if anyone cares to know Baker is also where Packers’ head coach Mike McCarthy played back in the 80s.

Having Tanner is just another reason to love the Jets.

By: frankiepapa

frankiepapa — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:48:05 +0000

Dearth has been pretty solid during his tenure here. He did struggle late in the season but he did lose his mother and that could certainly affected him to some degree

By: head_coach

head_coach — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:37:13 +0000

ummmm I could probably long snap all you do is throw the ball through your legs wow

By: Todd Alster

Todd Alster — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:30:02 +0000

James dearth is the heart and sole of tht team… the jets would be no wear with out him he is an aamzing snapper with out him feely wouldnt be nearly as good as he was dis season. dearth shoulda won mvp manning… he should be in the hall of fame for the best long snapper ever… jets should spend more than 15 mil per season for this guy he can do it all

By: Bent

Bent — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:22:31 +0000

Wise – he was basically earning the veteran’s minimum.

You can’t survive without a specialist in this role. In a game last year, the Steelers lost their long snapper and it cost them a game as the replacement had a costly bad snap on a punt. Dearth has been very reliable for years. A shotgun snap doesn’t need to be 100% accurate because a QB can reach out for the ball without it disrupting the play. The margin of error for a punt not to be blocked or a holder to get the laces pointed in the right direction is much smaller.

The long snapper doesn’t seem so important until they cost you a game and, yes, Dearth let the Jets down once or twice this year, but since 2001, he’s been chucking bullseyes with more regularity than most of the guys around the league.

Maybe it is time to move on, but Dearth has had an important role, so they better make sure whoever does it next year is reliable.

By: head_coach

head_coach — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:21:46 +0000

this isnt news

By: AKA....Drew

AKA....Drew — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:11:01 +0000

When you start losing games because of snapping problems……making a change might be needed…..but its not the easiest thing to replace

In saying that I believe almost every team dedicates a roster spot to a long snapper…..if he can do more great but I think its pretty common than LS has one job….just snap the ball correctly on punts and FG’s