Top 7 Football Tryout Drills

1. Analyze an athlete’s strengths & weaknesses
2. Identify new players
3. Compare top players

These are three of the many reasons why football tryouts are held. And with every football tryout comes drills. We dive into the 8 football drills that can be applied at tryouts to accurately assess your players, helping you make more informed drafting decisions!

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How Can I Evaluate Football Players?

Establish relevant evaluation criteria (i.e., football drills)

Write out all of the skills you will be evaluating (i.e., tackling, passing, catching, offense, defense, character, etc..). For each skill, list out 1-3 football drills. However, make sure each skill has an equal amount of drills.

Evaluate athletes at multiple points throughout the year

Evaluations aren’t only important for drafting teams but also for ongoing development. Hold at least two evaluations throughout the year. These additional evaluations enable coaches to evaluate players on specific drills throughout the season and track their progress.

Provide athlete feedback

Telling a player after practice, “Work on your form when catching the ball,” is great. But what are the chances they will remember and apply that feedback?

This is where SkillShark comes in. Verbalizing feedback has a 98% chance of getting forgotten. Therefore, why not integrate this feedback into written reports?

1. Download SkillShark on your iOS or Android device.
2. Set up your evaluation template (customize your evaluation template or select a pre-filled template).
3. Run your evaluations & score players.
4. After the evaluation, send feedback reports. No data has to be configured; it is all done for you. Just select a player and hit “Send.”

Individual player reports in SkillShark

7 Football Tryout Drills For Evaluating Your Players

1. Football Catching Drill: Hands-Only

• Pair up players, about 1 yard apart from each other on the field.
• The receiver will remain on their knees for the entirety of the drill while the quarterback will remain standing up, lined up about 5 yards away from the receiver.
• The quarterback will throw imperfect passes to the receiver.
• The receiver must catch the ball by extending their arms, but without using their chest.
• After 10 catches, the quarterback and receiver can increase the distance between each other.

Note: A perfect pass can be overthrown, under-thrown, off-target, or poorly timed. The quarterback should vary the type of “imperfect pass” to catch the receiver off guard each time.

2. Football Passing Drill: Lead the Receiver

• Mark two zones on the field with pylons, about 4 yards apart from one another. *These will be the only areas where the receiver can catch the ball.
• The quarterback will line up with the ball a few yards behind the line of scrimmage.
• Additionally, one receiver and one defender will be present.
• On the quarterback’s call, they will throw the ball into one of the designated areas. The wide receiver will have to catch the ball in one of the open areas while defense tries to block the pass.

Tip: The quarterback should throw the ball into the designated area before the receiver enters the area.

3. Football Linebacker Drill: 90-degree Break

• Line up your players in a single file line.
• On your call, the first player in line will start by backpedalling on the yard line.
• After about 12 yards, extend your hand to either the left or right side.
• The player will then break at a 90-degree angle and sprint forward in the direction of your hand.

Note: This drill enhances linebackers’ reaction times, simulating situations where they need to react to changes in play and move laterally to cover passing routes.

4. Football Tackling Drill: Sack Attack

Set up:

• Place pylons in a zigzag formation, about two yards from each other.
• After the series of cones in a zigzag, place one more pylon five yards away.
• Place a dummy around the corner after the last pylon.
• Line up your players in a single file line.

Execution:

• On your whistle, the first player in line will start by weaving through the pylons, focusing on running and turning as fast as they can.
• After running through the pylons, the player will rapidly accelerate around the corner to tackle the dummy.
• The player will continue to drive the dummy down until it makes contact with the ground for 3-5 seconds.

Tip: As players are approaching the dummy at full speed, they should keep their eyes on the center of the dummy. They should aim to make contact with their shoulder pads, rather than their helmet to reduce injury.

5. Football Linemen Drill: Mirror Drill

• An offensive lineman will start at the line of scrimmage. Another player will stand in front of them (about 2 feet away).
• On your whistle, the lineman will pop up and take a series of lateral steps to directly mirror the player across them.
• The mirror player will run back and forth, in a lateral motion, to try and throw off the offensive lineman.

Note: As the offensive lineman has to be quick on their feet to adapt to the direction of the “mirror” player, this enhances their pass protection ability during game scenarios.

6. Football Conditioning Drill: Later Shuffle & Cone Pickup

Set up:

• Place 6 pylons together in a line (should be placed as close as possible).
• Set up as many stations as possible on the field.
• Have your players stand 4 yards away from the pylons at the “starting line.”

Execution:

• On your whistle, players will shuffle laterally across the field, picking up the first pylon and shuffling back to the starting line.
• Once they get to the starting line, they will drop the pylon on the ground and shuffle back to retrieve the next pylon.
• Repeat this drill for 3 minutes.

7. Football Blocking Drill: Carpets

Set up:

• Set up 4 stations running carpets on the grass.
• Assign two players to each station. One will hold out a tackling dummy at chest level and the other player (the blocker) will start in a half-squat position.
• Each pair of players will start at the end of the carpet.

Execution:

• On your count, the blockers will explode out of the half-squat position and use their body weight to push the tackling dummy down the carpet as quickly & forcefully as possible.
• While pushing the tackling dummy, blockers must keep their knees slightly bent, extend their arms out in front of their chest with a slight bend in the elbow, and keep their eyes focused on the tackling pad.
• Once a blocker has pushed the dummy to the other end of the carpet, restart the drill with 4 new blockers.

See this drill in action

Looking For an Easier Way to Evaluate Football Players?

Using SkillShark, you can easily score football players using your smartphone or tablet. Once your evaluation is complete, instantly gain access to player reports. Review player data and draft teams on the same day!