Better Know A Freshman: Quentin Skinner

They always say you have a great long snapper on your team when you don’t know his name. It’s a position that is as routine as it gets, until a bad snap costs you points or a troubled punt. A lot of colleges gain a reputation for producing players at a specific position, like LSU and their “DBU” moniker. Well, Buford High School in Georgia may be able to boast they have turned into a pipeline.

The Story

There really is not much to the recruitment of Skinner. Following in the footsteps of the Ferguson brothers, Reid and Blake, Buford has had over a decade of ease in knowing any long snap was taken care of between the three. Just like the Ferguson brothers, Skinner wasted little time letting his intentions known, committing to LSU in the summer before his junior season.

The Numbers

110 - 101 = Franchise Player. One of the best players to come along in years, if not decades. Odds of having a player in this category every year is slim. This prospect has “can’t miss” talent.

100 - 98 = Five-star prospect. One of the top 30 players in the nation. This player has excellent pro-potential and should emerge as one of the best in the country before the end of his career. There will be 32 prospects ranked in this range in every football class to mirror the first round of the NFL Draft.

97 - 90 = Four-star prospect. One of the top 300 players in the nation. This prospect will be an impact-player for his college team. He is an All-American candidate who is projected to play professionally.

89 - 80 = Three-star prospect. One of the top 10% players in the nation. This player will develop into a reliable starter for his college team and is among the best players in his region of the country. Many three-stars have significant pro potential.

79 - below = Two-star prospect. This player makes up the bulk of Division I rosters. He may have little pro-potential, but is likely to become a role player for his respective school.

247 Composite Rating: **

247 Composite Ranking: .7895

It seems a little pointless to do this section on a long snapper, but I have a format for these articles and dang it, I’m going to stick to it. You can ignore ranking and the explanation, as Reid Ferguson will likely carve out a lengthy career with the Buffalo Bills, and you can count Blake in that category as well. Skinner was also an Army All-American.

The Film

Yes, there is a 22-minute long video of his long-snapping expertise. A true LSU football fan would set a part of his day out to watching this...Okay, maybe that’s too much, but if you watch just enough of it, you can see just how robotic Skinner is with the snaps. I don’t think you could create a machine that would be as consistent.

The Future

I mean, is there really a point to this one as well? Blake Ferguson is a senior this coming season, so Skinner will red-shirt this year before taking over the duties for the following four years.

High End: Continues this long trend of not worrying about any snapping issues at LSU.

Low End: I don’t know. Comes down with a case of the yips, gets brainwashed and forgets how to snap a football. Something drastic would need to happen to get nervous about this one.

Realistic: See “High End”