Dolphins Select Long-Snapper Blake Ferguson: Instant Reaction

Breaking down the selection of LSU long-snapper Blake Ferguson

Vasha Hunt-USA Today Sports

With their lone sixth-round selection of the 2020 NFL draft, the Dolphins made an interesting pick by becoming the first team to go for a specialist.

The Dolphins took LSU long-snapper Blake Ferguson, whose older brother Reid handles the same role for the Buffalo Bills.

Blake Ferguson was one of only two long-snappers invited to the 2020 NFL scouting combine after a four-year career at LSU, which gave LSU a Ferguson handling the long-snapping the past eight years.

Ferguson was a team captain for each of the past two seasons, a strong indication of his leadership qualities.

This was the NFL.com analysis of Ferguson:

"One of the top long-snappers in the country, Ferguson has a great shot at following his brother into the pros. His snap accuracy on punts was a little down from 2018, but it's not something that will kill his chances. He's the likely leader in the clubhouse as the long-snapper most likely to be drafted (and make a team long-term) this season."

The addition of Ferguson likely means the end of a short Dolphins tenure for Taybor Pepper, who was the long-snapper last season after he replaced long-time long-snapper John Denney.

So the Dolphins likely will have a new snapper for a third consecutive year after having only two for almost two decades.

Ed Perry handled the snapping duties from 1996 through 2004 after being a sixth-round pick as a tight end/snapper out of Old Dominion and Denney then was on the roster for 14 seasons before he was released last September.