A few years ago the No. 94 was worn by one of the best players in the country. Ryan Kerrigan is easily the most famous player to wear the No. 94 jersey, but it has now been passed down to a transfer long-snapper who has big shoes to fill.
Grant Ellington - So.
Hometown: LaGrange, Ill (Drake University)
Long Snapper
6', 205 pounds
2013 Projection: Reserve Long snapper
Purdue has a tradition of great long snappers. I say that because when was the last time you remember hearing the long snapper's name during a game? They only get mentioned when they screw up a snap, but it has been a very long time since that happened. Kevin Ballenger and John finch took the position even further by having a great presence on Twitter. Ballenger was the Mark Titus of college football with his Snapping Necks blog a few years ago. Finch and Ballenger even have currently long-snapper Jesse Schmitt cracking jokes on Twitter as one of the few scholarship long snappers out there.
Unfortunately, Schmitt has a stranglehold on the position as a two-year starter with two more years of eligibility. Ellington transferred in from Drake, but he was an all-conference player in high school at Nazereth Academy. He was another recruited long snapper:
Snapper Grant Ellington has informed Kohl's that he is committing to Drake University. Grant has done well with Kohl's and hopes to do very well at Drake University. He should compete early in his career at Drake. The non-scholarship D1 FCS school is very happy to be getting Grant.
Scout.com even had him as a high school standout at a longsnapping camp. With Drake playing in the same non-scholarship conference as Butler the Big Ten is a step up, but Scmitt is a junior. The only other longsnapper on the roster is freshman John Bednar, so Ellington very easily could see the field in time.