Detroit Lions: Ranking the Draft Class By Rookie-Year Impact
By Zac Snyder
5. Jimmy Landes
Yes, technically Jimmy Landes still has to beat Don Muhlbach for the long snapper job but I have a hard time believing the Lions would use a draft pick like this unless they were confident he would.
With the expectation that Landes is the team’s long snapper, he is set up to have an impact as a rookie as a key piece of every punt and field goal attempt. I still don’t love the pick and wouldn’t use a draft pick on a long snapper myself, but there will be teams that get less out of a sixth-round pick as long as Landes does end up with the job.
Best-case scenario: Beats out Don Muhlbach for the long snapper job by the time first cuts arrive and that’s the last time we hear his name because he does his job without incident.
Worst-case scenario: Doesn’t make the team and ends up as nothing more than an answer to an obscure Lions trivia question. However, it could be argued an even worse case is he does beat out Don Muhlbach but turns out to be the long snapper version of Nate Freese.
Next: Number 4