BOONE, N.C. — App State senior
Christian Johnstone has been named to the watch list for the Patrick Mannelly Award, which is presented to the best FBS long snapper in the country.
The only Sun Belt long snapper on the list, Johnstone has appeared in 54 career games from 2019-21 and then 2023 (after being sidelined for the 2022 season because of injury rehab). The Mountaineers are 41-13 in those 54 games, with Johnstone delivering snaps on game-winning kicks against Coastal Carolina in 2021 and
Michael Hughes' 54-yard kick at ULM in 2023.
Hughes and Chandler Staton have both received All-America recognition with Johnstone snapping.
Mannelly was considered one of the NFL's best long-snappers during a 16-year career that he spent exclusively with the Chicago Bears from 1998-2013. The award, created in 2019, benefits Bernie's Book Bank, a non-profit organization located in Lake Bluff, Illinois.
The 30-player watch list will be reduced to 10 semifinalists on Nov. 11.
| Name |
School |
| Austin Brinkman |
West Virginia |
| Austin Riggs |
Rutgers |
| Beau Gardner |
Georgia |
| Ben Anderson |
Oklahoma |
| Brent Matiscik |
TCU |
| Byron Floyd |
Buffalo |
| Cayson Pfeiffer |
Wisconsin |
| Christian Johnstone |
App State |
| Colby Cox |
Memphis |
| Dylan Black |
Oregon State |
| Eli Stein |
Arkansas |
| Ethan Hudak |
Tulane |
| Hank Pepper |
USC |
| Hunter Rogers |
South Carolina |
| Jacob Garcia |
Utah State |
| JT Greep |
Utah |
| Julian Ashby |
Vanderbilt |
| Kneeland Hibbett |
Alabama |
| Luke Elkin |
Iowa |
| Luke Hosford |
Kansas |
| Nicholas Marino |
Florida Atlantic |
| Philip Florenzo |
Clemson |
| Rocco Underwood |
Florida |
| Ryan Wintermeyer |
San Diego State |
| Slade Roy |
LSU |
| Travis Drosos |
UCLA |
| Tucker Dunn |
Ball State |
| Tyler Duzansky |
Penn State |
| Will Halkyard |
Northwestern |
| William Wagner |
Michigan |
