DEVELOPING A FRESHMAN QB

Coach Mike,

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I have been working quite a bit lately. Some of this may be old hat to you; this is what worked for our kids.

I worked alot with some HS freshmen players last year in a passing league. I ran lots of receiver drills. The one thing I learned, was that getting the kids to focus on the white of the ball and to catch at the highest spot were the most important things we covered. Sounds obvious, but I found that you needed to pound this stuff into these guys on every drill.

Always emphasize getting “up the field” in all passing drills. WRs should be like sprinters. I had them start low, inside foot back, and hang their arms like two strands of spaghetti. And, as you can tell, I am a big believer in coordinating your drill work with the plays that you run. Also, always have a center working with a QB when running any routes. The timing gets affected; it needs to be the same as in a game.

1) Passing Tree Warmups: I ran all of the routes (our “passing tree”) in every warmup. I had kids know their routes.

2) SAT: Stance, alignment and takeoff; practice these every day.

3) Rapid fire drill; place two cones ten yards apart. The WR starts and immediately gets thrown a ball with some zip on it (he is going from rt to lt; so he is catching on left hand side); WR catches ball and drops on cone at 10 yds; he turns and heads back getting “pegged” with another ball just after he turns and heads back (catching ball on rt side this time); he runs to cone and drops ball. Good warmup. Can throw high and low balls as players progress.

4) Rapid fire on angled cones (need 4 cones and 3 QBs): Place 4 cones on 45 degree angles; place cones10-20 yds apart. The objective if for the WR to catch the ball as he proceeds through this course. He is going full speed and catching balls from right and left hand sides. He is also changing the direction in which he runs (the 45 degree angles). You can adjust the throws to high and low balls. Focus on speed, cuts, and looking the ball in to hands.

5) 4 Cone Drill: I think someone already covered this WR drill; it is an excellent drill. BTW, we taught the kids to always go one step beyond their mark (or in this case a cone) before making their cut. This drill is run just like the above but from a box. QBs can be placed in different locations.

6) Catch with One Hand: Align WRs on sideline; have the QB throw soft tosses to WRs (fade type routes). The WRs should catch the ball (look it in) with one hand. We start with right hand and then move the QB to other side of the sideline and have WRs catch with left hand.

7) The Gauntlet: Kids loved this one; we made this a competition. We have three QBs and two cones placed about 30-40 yds apart. The receiver starts on a cone and takes off at full speed; he immediately hears “turn” and a ball is thrown at him; he catches ball, tucks away, and then disposes ball and then, trying to not break stride continues on. The next QB yells “turn” soon thereafter, the WR turns, focuses on nothing but ball while running, catches ball, tucks away, and then gets rid of ball. He then proceeds to the third QB. This is a very tough drill if done properly (at full speed). As kids progress, high and low balls are included. The kids keep track of how many “3’s” (when they caught all 3 balls) they got and challenge each other. Its alot of fun. I like to be a QB in this drill; I enjoy making it difficult.

There are lots of others; and I’m sure you have run them. These are the ones that my kids liked the most.

All the best.
JB