The Football Tryout Evaluation Form, Category by Category

Use one form for everyone, then read it differently per position. Quarterbacks: throwing accuracy and football IQ effectively double, and the coverage skill goes unscored. Linemen: blocking, strength, and motor carry the evaluation, the routes and coverage row usually stays blank, and get-off quickness belongs in the notes. Skill positions: ball skills and routes and coverage do the sorting, with the 40 and shuttle breaking ties. Defensive backs and linebackers: tackling form plus coverage, and a great shuttle time matters more than a great 40.

At younger ages, shorten the measured tests (a 20-yard sprint is plenty at 8U) and expect the IQ row to measure teachability more than scheme knowledge. By 13U and up, the full six categories apply as written, and recorded combine numbers become worth keeping year over year, because measurements travel across seasons in a way opinion scores never do.

Run the form in one of two formats, or both. The per-player sheet is the format above: one page per player, categories as rows, an evidence note beside every score. Use it at stations and for any player whose roster spot is a real discussion. The compact roster sheet flips the layout: one row per player, the six categories abbreviated across the top, a whole tryout group on a page or two. Use it when one coach is scanning a big field and wants position groups comparable at a glance.

The roster sheet gives up the notes column, so keep per-player sheets for the bubble players, where the note is what settles the staff discussion. The downloadable pack below includes both formats, plus a team sheet that totals each row automatically and a draft board that ranks the group from the scores.

The form is the easy half. At a program tryout with a hundred-plus players and a two-dozen-coach panel, the hard half is collecting every sheet and turning them into one defensible list per position group before offers go out. On paper, that is a late night with a spreadsheet. Scored in Rizzler, every coach enters numbers at their station on a phone, the ranked board builds itself during the tryout, and offers go out and get tracked from the same place. The Team Tryouts workflow covers registration through offers for up to 300 players on the Club plan, with the football template pre-loaded and editable on Pro and Club if your program scores different categories. The same six-category template serves flag football too; the flag football version of this form covers what changes in the 5v5 game.

Six: athleticism, football IQ, ball skills, blocking and tackling, routes and coverage, and effort and coachability. Combine tests (the 40, shuttle, jumps) feed the athleticism row as converted scores, and position-specific rows stay blank for players who do not attempt them.

Record the raw time in the notes, then convert it onto your scoring scale by group: grade the fastest times at the top of the scale and the slowest at the bottom, within the same age group. The converted score ranks players; the raw number is the evidence behind it and is worth keeping year over year.

No. Use one form and leave unattempted rows blank: linemen typically skip routes and coverage, quarterbacks skip coverage reps. One form keeps every player comparable on the shared rows while the position rows sort the depth chart, and blanks keep totals honest when you rank within position groups.

Use 1 to 5 on paper and 1 to 10 in an app, and define the middle before the first rep. Attach one sentence of evidence to each score: "double-clutched two high balls" ranks players and survives parent questions; "average hands" does neither.