49ers have to figure out long snapper situation quick
Perhaps the only rough spot in San Francisco’s 36-9 victory over the New York Giants was long snapper Kyle Nelson and his inability to get the ball to holder Mitch Wishnowsky on field goals and extra points. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team hasn’t made a decision yet on what to do at long snapper, but they’ll work out some players at that spot this week.
The 49ers botched an extra point Sunday because of a low snap from Nelson and would’ve done so with another had it not been for a facemask penalty on the Giants when they tackled Wishnowsky in the post-snap scramble.
Shanahan said he spoke with Nelson on Monday, and was complimentary of the nine-year veteran before saying the club would be searching for a possible replacement.
“Kyle’s had an unbelievable career. He’s been a great 49er. He’s been a great teammate. I’ve loved Kyle in these three years that I’ve gotten to know him and he’s been great for us,” Shanahan said. “So, I know it was a really bad day. I just told him that, you know, fortunately it didn’t cost us anything. It wasn’t an issue in the game because of how the rest of the game went. We were able to still get a W, but he understands this business. He understands how the league works and we’re going to bring in some guys tomorrow, work them out. We’ll see how they look and then we’ll decide what’s the best for us going forward.”
Reserve offensive tackle Justin Skule handled the long snapping duties on San Francisco’s final extra point try, but Shanahan dismissed the idea of Skule taking on that responsibility full time.
This is the second consecutive season San Francisco has had long snapper issues. Nelson was suspended for 10 games late in the 2018 season and missed the final four games that year, and the first six of the 2019 campaign. While they waited on Nelson’s return, the 49ers cycled through Colin Holba, Jon Condo and Garrison Sanborn in the games before Nelson was back in the lineup.
The 49ers signed Nelson to a four-year extension last offseason worth $4.54 million with $450,000 guaranteed. While he did recently ink an extension, it’s not the kind of deal that would prevent the 49ers from moving on.
This is something San Francisco has to work out quickly. The bad snaps didn’t affect them Sunday, but not having a reliable player at that spot in close games would present a potential game-changing problem for the 49ers.
