Getty Scott Daly celebrates a play in a Detroit Lions game.
Some NFL teams are heading into training camp with quarterback battles, but the Detroit Lions have something different and much more unusual brewing — a long snapper battle.
Though incumbent Scott Daly has been a mainstay for the Lions, starting all 34 games over his two seasons with the team, the team brought in some significant competition this offseason and Daly could be faced with an unlikely battle for his job. While the Lions got plenty of attention for their upgrades at offense and defense this offseason, the team has quietly increased competition at other key positions on special teams and will be faced with difficult decisions at training camp.
2-Year Starter ‘Not Safe’ Heading into Training Camp
As Colton Pouncy of The Athletic noted, the Lions upped the stakes at long snapper by signing Pro Bowler Jake McQuaide.
McQuaide played the first 10 seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Rams — who were still in St. Louis when he joined the team in 2011 — and he appeared in all 160 games during that stretch, making the Pro Bowl twice. He joined the Dallas Cowboys in 2021, missing most of the 2022 season after being placed on injured reserve.
Surround yourself with people who support you like @JHekker + @JakeMcQuaide support @dantefowler. 😂
As Pouncy noted, McQuaide’s signing is an indication that the Lions want to inject some competition into the position this summer.
“Expect a battle here,” he wrote. “Good teams never stop searching for upgrades.”
Pouncy also pointed out that most teams stick with one long snapper, often for years at a time, so McQuaide’s signing alone constitutes a serious threat to Daly’s job — especially at a position where only one person can make the final roster.
“Teams don’t typically bring in competition at long snapper, so Daly, the incumbent, should not assume his spot is safe,” Pouncy wrote.
Lions Ready for Another Special Teams Competition
Daly won’t be the only specialist facing competition this summer. The Lions also signed a pair of kickers to compete with incumbent starter Michael Badgley. The Lions found stability last season in Badgley, who started the season on the practice squad but moved to the active roster and went 24-for-28 on field goal attempts, earning Special Teams Player in Week 13.
Badgley will now face serious competition as the Lions signed former XFL star John Parker Romo and acquired Riley Patterson in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Romo made a good impression at the team’s early practices leading SI.com’s Christian Booher to speculate that he would bring a major threat to Badgley’s job.
“I was super impressed by the leg of Parker Romo, the Lions’ signing from the XFL,” Booher wrote on June 4.
“Will Romo beat out the established Michael Badgley? Who’s to say? However, his performance in the kicking battle against Riley Patterson is hard to ignore. Even the kicks he missed from distance had the leg to get over the uprights.”
Though Romo didn’t kick field goals until his final season at Virginia Tech, he had a strong season and earned some NFL buzz. After signing with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent but failing to make the final roster, Romo joined the XFL’s San Antonio Brahmas and was the league’s most accurate kicker, converting 89.4% of his attempts and earning a spot on the All-XFL Team.
Comments