While most of the buzz around Bears training camp is centered on the big-ticket jobs, there’s another competition quietly carrying real weight for the 2026 team: long snapper.
The top of the depth chart has plenty of familiar flashpoints. Left tackle remains a major storyline because of what it means for the offense and Caleb Williams.
Austin Booker is pushing for more snaps after flashing last season, while Dayo Odeyingbo is looking to prove himself after tearing his Achilles. At cornerback, Tyrique Stevenson is in a contract year, but Terell Smith and rookie Malik Muhammad are both in the mix opposite Jaylon Johnson.
And there’s also the question of whether rookie center Logan Jones can unseat Garrett Bradbury.
But the long snapper battle is the one that can ripple through the entire third phase.
Luke Elkin arrived with experience from the Bears’ and Raiders’ practice squads last season, and he already knows punter Tory Taylor from the three years they spent together at Iowa. Standing in his way is Beau Gardner, the former Georgia Bulldog who won the Patrick Mannelly Award last season as the top long snapper in the FBS. Georgia’s website said Gardner “snapped on 65 of Georgia's 66 combined field goal attempts and PATs as well as each of the 48 punts for the Bulldogs” that season.
Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower will be judging more than just accuracy. He said the staff will also be looking at how each player fits with the rest of the operation, and he called a long snapper “the glue in the room.”
It may not be a headline-grabbing job, but it matters plenty for Cairo Santos. If the Bears ever need him to win a game with his leg, the whole thing starts with one clean snap.
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