Former Baltimore Ravens tight end Nick Boyle is making the transition to long snapper and showed off his talents to NFL scouts at Maryland’s pro day on March 29.
Boyle’s journey to the long snapper position actually started early in life, though he did not play the position in college. He only played tight end at the University of Delaware.
“I was trying to get to college just to be a long snapper,” Boyle said on Glenn Clark Radio April 4. “I kind of built a little bit of a foundation back then in high school. My dad took me to a couple of long snapping camps and kind of built my foundation for snapping.”
Boyle, 30, attended Maryland’s pro day to show NFL teams that he could be a long snapper at the highest level. He snapped for former Terps kicker Chad Ryland, who hopes to get drafted later this month. (Boyle and Ryland share an agent.)
The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Boyle got some work in at long snapper late in the 2022 season when regular long snapper Nick Moore missed practice time due to illness.
“I haven’t done this since high school and I’m out here blocking 80 percent of the protection after you snap the ball and block on punt team,” Boyle said. “I mean, I could do this if I really dedicate [myself] to it. It’s easier on my body. It’s easier on my leg. I’m able to maintain my leg in a different way because it’s not all the running and pounding a tight end would do.”
The former fifth-round pick from Delaware opted for the position change because of a major knee injury suffered in 2020. Boyle played sparingly in 2021 and 2022. This past season, he played mostly on special teams prior to being waived in early January. The long snapper position eases the maintenance on his knee.
Boyle nearly had to fill in this past season in a game. Moore was in jeopardy of missing a game late in the year because his wife was due to give birth. Moore didn’t miss that game, so Boyle still hasn’t played the position in an actual game.
“Is this kind of an opportunity knocking on the door? Yeah. Am I totally ready to go do this, no. But let’s roll with it,” Boyle said in recalling his thought process at the time. “I’ll do it for them. I love the Ravens. … If they need me to do something, I’ll go out there and do it.”
The Ravens previously had a high-level long snapper in Morgan Cox, who played in Baltimore from 2010-2020. Cox is a five-time Pro Bowler and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2020.
“Being around those guys, those guys are top-tier long snappers,” Boyle said. “What better people to learn from than those two? … The resources I have are thankfully right here for me. I’m able to learn. I reach out to those guys and Nick Moore’s been awesome.”
Across his eight-year Ravens career, Boyle caught 121 passes for 1,049 yards and four touchdowns. If Boyle does not get signed as a long snapper, he plans on retiring to spend time with his family or doing something else with football.
“If long snapper doesn’t work out I’ll figure out what I want to do, whether it be coaching, whether it be scouting, something with football,” Boyle said. “Football always draws me back somehow.”
For more from Boyle, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox