Undrafted long-snapper William Wagner may not get a lot of votes for Bengals Rookie of the Year with linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter heading into Sunday’s season finale (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12) at Paycor Stadium against the Browns as the second and third rookie tacklers, respectively, in the NFL.

Or with left guard Dylan Fairchild playing nearly 900 snaps for the NFL’s sixth-best passing offense.

But the Michigan-bred Wagner has been just as key with his accurate snapping that has helped spawn Evan McPherson’s career-high 89.3 field-goal percentage and Ryan Rehkow’s effort at breaking his team records from last year’s rookie season.

It was during that season that Rehkow, a neophyte holder in the NFL scheme, and incumbent long-snapper Cal Adomitis struggled at times as McPherson offered a career-low 72.7% for a variety of reasons.

One of them was the operation and special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons has been rewarded for sticking with Wagner in the training camp derby with Adomitis.

“We haven’t had to think about the snap all year,” Rehkow says. “I think I’m definitely getting better at holding, but Will has done a really good job stepping in and doing everything we’ve asked.”

The punt snaps have been good enough that Rehkow is contending for the NFL punt yardage title at 51.1 yards per punt, ahead of his club-record 49.1 of last season. He’s 11th in the league in net punting at 42.9, which would tie his net record.

McPherson, out of Fort Payne, Ala., has developed a bond with Wagner, from suburban Atlanta.

“He’s from my part of the country,” McPherson said. “He’s fun to be around. Very energetic. He’s like a little teddy bear.”

But Wagner is no cub when it comes to accuracy. Simmons put a premium on that, and Wagner has delivered.

“It’s all about accuracy,” said McPherson, and Rehkow agrees.

“I don’t think speed is as big as accuracy in terms of the overall operation,” Rehkow says. “The snap is somewhere between .7 and 65 seconds. Not much difference. But you can be faster when you don’t worry about adjusting the laces. There’s not much of that with Will.”

Wagner chalks up an almost seamless transition to being in a pro-style system in Ann Arbor.

“Really, not much of an adjustment when I came in,” said Wagner, who snapped for Jay Harbaugh, son of Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh and worked for uncle John Harbaugh with the Ravens before going to coordinate the Michigan special teams.

“I had been around NFL special teams coaches, and I knew what the standard was,” Wagner said. “And I think it helps that I can block.”