Snyder opts for one more year
Former Marin Catholic standout to stay at SJSU rather than declare for NFL draft
“I’m working on improving my leg strength and some small things here and there I can work on this year that I felt would give me the best shot to make it to the NFL.” – Jack Snyder, offensive tackle, who announced Thursday he’d be returning to SJSU for a fifth season.
Coming off an MVP campaign and a history-making season for the San Jose State football team, left tackle Jack Snyder is running it back for one more year.
The former Marin Catholic High standout was eligible to return for the Spartans for a fifth year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and announced via Twitter on Tuesday that he would do just that.
“I’m just excited to come back next year and prove that this year wasn’t a fluke, that we really are that team that was on the field last year and do it again next year,” Snyder said.
Snyder was named the most valuable player in the Mountain West this past season by Pro Football Focus, helping the Spartans win their first seven games and make it to a bowl game. SJSU won the Mountain West championship for the first time and finished the season ranked inside the top 25.
“It was definitely really fun,” Snyder said. “It felt like every game we won there was a new stat or how long it had been since we had won that many games in a row. It felt good to do something that hadn’t been done in a while.”
Snyder’s decision to return was not necessarily a straightforward one. Snyder is a legitimate NFL draft prospect and could have opted to declare coming off a banner season.
“I’ve had a ton of conversations ever since I got back from the bowl game,” Snyder said. “That was pretty much all that was on my mind — talking with family, my college coaches, (Marin Catholic coach Mazi Moayed) and hearing what agents and scouts had to say about where I was projected for the next year as well.”
Ultimately Snyder decided to return to the Spartans and take one more year to try and improve his draft stock even further.
“I had a good year last year but there’s always room to improve,” Snyder said, “I’m working on improving my leg strength and some small things here and there I can work on this year that I felt would give me the best shot to make it to the NFL.”
Count Moayed among those who believe Snyder will continue to improve between now and the 2022 draft.
“If you look at the graph on his game, it keeps climbing every single year and that’s the same way he was in high school,” Moayed said. “If Jack’s history continues to stay consistent and repeats itself, his graph is going to continue to climb.”
Snyder also admitted that it would be tough to leave a program that enjoyed its best season in almost a century. The Spartans were ranked as high as 19th in the Associated Press poll this past season, a feat only bested by the 1939 team that went 13-0 and was ranked 18th.
“I feel like whenever you’re successful, you want to continue that,” Snyder said. “It would have been hard to leave my teammates.”