Feb 26, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Iowa State st Steven Wirtel (ST02) speaks to the media during the 2020 NFL Combine in the Indianapolis Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Some of the biggest shoes Iowa State will be tasked with filling in 2020 are at the long-snapper spot, and former four-year starter Steven Wirtel proved why that is the case late last week at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Illinois-native, who started every game for the Cyclones during his college career, put together a Combine performance to remember, most notably posting a 4.76 second time in the 40-yard dash, the fastest time ever recorded by a long-snapper at the event, plus put up 19 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press, the fifth-most by a long-snapper since 2000.
Wirtel, one of only two long-snappers invited to the event along with LSU’s Blake Ferguson, also recorded a 26-inch vertical jump and 120-inch broad jump plus times of 7.12 seconds and 4.28 seconds in the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle, respectively.
Finalist of the Peter Mannelly Award, which is given to the nation’s best long-snapper, this past season Wirtel has a chance to give Iowa State a selection in April’s NFL Draft for the second consecutive season, potentially joining former teammates David Montgomery and Hakeem Butler, who were taken in the third and fourth rounds last season. One long-snapper has been selected in each of the last five NFL Drafts and this performance in Indianapolis certainly helped Wirtel put his best foot forward when it comes to being the man who makes that streak six years.
