James Madison long snapper Kyle Davis has been named to the 2022 watch list for The Patrick Mannelly Award, which recognizes one player judged to be the best long snapper in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Davis has served as JMU’s long snapper for the past four seasons, totaling 51 games played since 2017. He was named a First Team FCS All-American both in 2020 and 2021 and was a two-time All-Colonial Athletic Association selection prior to JMU’s FBS transition.
The Waxhaw, N.C., native has had zero bad snaps both on punt and PAT/field goal units during his career, aiding in 95 made field goals, with the majority coming from Ethan Ratke, the NCAA all-time leader in career field goals (101). That included a JMU-record 29 field goals in 2021 and 27 in 2019.
Davis was one of 25 FBS senior student-athletes selected to the preseason watch list. He was one of three Sun Belt Conference long snappers honored, joining South Alabama’s Travis Drosos and Troy’s Peter Skinner. The Sun Belt was one five FBS conference with at least three nominees.
Ten semifinalists will be announced on Nov. 14 and will be narrowed to three finalists on Nov. 28, with the winner being selected on Dec. 10.
The Patrick Mannelly Award, presented by William Blair, was created in 2019 and benefits Bernie’s Book Bank, a non-profit organization in Lake Bluff, Ill. The award was named after Patrick Mannelly, widely known as the best long snapper in the modern NFL era who played 16 seasons with the Chicago Bears.
2022 Patrick Mannelly Award Watch List
Karsten Battles, Oregon
Peter Bowden, Wisconsin
Kyle Davis, James Madison
Evan Deckers, Duke
Travis Drosos, South Alabama
Rex Goossen, UNLV
Matt Hembrough, Oklahoma State
Ethan Hudak, Tulane
Kasey Kelleher, Oklahoma
Jack Landherr IV, UCLA
Drew Little, North Carolina
Austin Mock, Liberty
Marco Ortiz, Florida
Randen Plattner, Kansas State
Bradley Robinson, Ohio State
Simon Samarzich, Washington State
Wesley Schelling, Vanderbilt
Joe Shimko, NC State
Peter Skinner, Troy
Chris Stoll, Penn State
Michael Vinson, Notre Dame
Alex Ward, UCF
Sean Wracher, Indiana
Slater Zellers, Cal
Tommy Zozus, UConn
— JMU Athletics —
