With the NFL currently ablaze under the burning topic of the depressed running back market, Carolina Panthers punter Johnny Hekker hit Twitter on Friday to take up for another overlooked position. The 12th-year veteran and four-time First-team All-Pro simply wasn’t having it with EA Sports, who weren’t too kind to long snappers in their ratings for “Madden NFL 24.”
All this talk of RB’s being devalued…has anyone even stopped to check on their team’s long snapper? These @EAMaddenNFL rankings are ridiculous. #SaveTheSnappers
— Johnny Hekker (@JHekker) July 21, 2023
Sure, long snappers aren’t exactly the most important players on the field. But Hekker’s got a point.
For one, they don’t even have their own designation on the video game’s official website. Instead of being listed as “LS,” since—ya know—they’re long snappers, they’re categorized as tight ends.
And that 36 rating for JJ Jansen! My goodness!
Apparently, the developers over at EA are unaware of the Iron Man-like durability of Jansen—who just broke the franchise record for most games played. They probably don’t even know about his dual-threat skills as a director either.
Hekker’s right. Save the snappers!
