11-12 year old football draft

[Bug Bunny]

So I'm head coach for my son's 11-12 year old tackle football team. Our draft is tonight. What would your top 5 picks be? I'm thinking. . . . . .

1. Lineman
2. Skill Position
3. Lineman
4. Lineman
5. Skill Position

What do you guys think?? Just FYI, a lineman is anyone over 135 (can't touch the ball) and skill position is anyone under 135. . . . .

[newtogolf]

It depends on how many "lineman" there were. I coached similar ages, and offense is pretty limited to running and option plays, unless you have a really good QB and WR. Do you already know all the kids in the draft or is it basically pulling names out of a hat with the only decision being lineman or skill player? First year we did it, we drafted blind, but in following years we knew all the good players names and went after them.

[Bug Bunny]

I have detailed notes on each kid from the three previous practice days and know most from playing 9-10 last year. Mostly running offense but there are prolly three kids that can play qb that you'd be able to put a few pass plays in for. There are four teams and there are about 65 players, of those, prolly 25 are overs or lineman. . . . of those, 4 are truly gifted lineman that play the position really well!

[newtogolf]

Your experiences may be different, but we found building a good defense easier than a good offense. We had a tough time getting kids to memorize formations and plays so we kept it really simple on offense. I used my first picks to select players that understood the game and could act as leaders on the field (make sure everyone is lined up right, etc).

If there's only 4 gifted overs you might try to grab two, put them on the same side of the line and run that way all the time. Keeps your offense simple and if they go both ways they will probably dominate on defense too.

[Bug Bunny]

If there's only 4 gifted overs you might try to grab two, put them on the same side of the line and run that way all the time. Keeps your offense simple and if they go both ways they will probably dominate on defense too.

Agreed, we will prolly have six plays total but I hope to be able to run them both left and right. Defense I think is where the games will be won and lost!

[newtogolf]

I agree 100% that defense is key at that age. Teaching kids to tackle properly and play their position (not just chase the guy with the ball) is the toughest. Surprisingly, it's usually where alot of teams put their weakest players and you see these kids just wandering around not even paying attention to what's going on.

If the lineman are really good and you have a fast RB, you could teach them to pull, then you have the option of running both ways without having them lineup differently. Sounds like you are going to have a good plan, and will have a lot of fun this season.

[alomar123]

Speed kills at that age.

[senorchipotle]

Speed kills at that age.

speed kills at any age.

[FenderStrat62]

This is old, and I haven't coached kids playing football, but I did used to play a lot of football. Here are my thoughts, for the heck of it:

1) Speed kills. If you have a fast kid who can make plays, I think that would be the most important thing to scoring. Good blocking is important, and is absolutely critical once the game gets a little more sophisticated, but I think a kid that's head and shoulders above the field athletically at that age can make up for a less talented line. And that's coming from a lineman.

2) Good blocking and good defense at that age can be coached, IMO. If you can pinpoint some coachable, smart kids who aren't the best athletes but are serviceable, I think you can teach tackling and blocking technique and assignments. You can't teach speed.