Where Do You Put Your Best Athletes?

[Texas_D_Coach 14]

I am wondering where you coached tend to put your best athlete. I have read books on coaching that say to put your best athlete at QB, because they handle the ball every down, but the 2 best teams in our league last year , put their best athletes at RB, and that is what I've been planning to do this fall too, but I'd like all of your opinions first.

Here is my reasoning: The QB cannot run in our league, so other than avoiding the rusher, athleticism really doesn't come into play. As long as they can throw the ball accurately and not get rattled by the defense I think athleticism can be overlooked.

In my playbook, I have alot of options for handoffs to the RB in situations where they can run or pass. This gives us a dual threat in the backfield and eliminates the 7 second passing rule.

[rushbuster70 16]

My best athlete is always a mix of RB/WR...I want to get the other kids involved but I want him to make big plays so he will play a decoy also.But I usually get him the ball early in the game and see how the defense reacts to him.

If your going to do the RB option to pass or run then you definitely want to put your best athlete there.Try and get him out at WR though to scare the defense a little bit.That should open things up a bit for other kids.

On defense he is going to play my middle safety in a 2-3.I want him in charge and thats our main guy.We call the defense into him and he directs people but he also has the most space to work with by dropping back right away.

[Orange 26]

That's an interesting question. If you just say raw athlete, I'd tend to agree that rb is a good spot, especially if you have a solid qb. Qb is much more about thinking, making quick decisions, cool under pressure, command of the field, etc. Turns out my best athlete also has all these qualities so he'll probably be playing qb. Believe me, I'm trying to find another kid who can take over the qb spot because I want to free up the athlete but my team has a lot of really quick players. I have plenty of options to run, several that can catch very well and only 2 I've identified as qbs. The best athlete is the better of the two.

OK, let me sum up. It depends on all the other parts. You probably want to get him the ball, but you have to consider what else you have to work with.

[Johnp2 21]

In the past I've always put my best athlete at RB. However, last season my best athlete could run AND catch (and run the crispest routes I've seen at this age). Thus I put him at WR. I thought long and hard about it as I only had three above par "athletes" on the team. I put my second best athlete at RB--he could run but could not catch. It worked out well as my WR caught a lot of balls in the flats--on the run--on had an incredible YAC average. He was also tall, and our red zone fade pass was pretty much unstoppable.

This was the first season (7-9) that I had a player who could catch most anything thrown his way. He moved to Florida this summer, so I will be looking for one or two good WRs to fill his spot, as we beat teams with our passing game last season---and I'm looking to do it again next season.

[Orange 26]

This was the first season (7-9) that I had a player who could catch most anything thrown his way. He moved to Florida this summer, so I will be looking for one or two good WRs to fill his spot, as we beat teams with our passing game last season---and I'm looking to do it again next season.

Let me know if he moved to Central Florida, I could always use another receiver like that.

[bobretro 0]

I am wondering where you coached tend to put your best athlete. I have read books on coaching that say to put your best athlete at QB, because they handle the ball every down, but the 2 best teams in our league last year , put their best athletes at RB, and that is what I've been planning to do this fall too, but I'd like all of your opinions first.

Here is my reasoning: The QB cannot run in our league, so other than avoiding the rusher, athleticism really doesn't come into play. As long as they can throw the ball accurately and not get rattled by the defense I think athleticism can be overlooked.

In my playbook, I have alot of options for handoffs to the RB in situations where they can run or pass. This gives us a dual threat in the backfield and eliminates the 7 second passing rule.

First I want to say hi, this is my first post, I'll introduce myself later. It's usually difficult to say who is the "best" athlete. One boy can have great speed, and another great hands. I've found that the quarterback needs to be someone with great presence of mind. It's a waste having your fastest boy at QB because he really can't use his speed. I've also found that it's more important to have a great receiver than a great passer for passing plays. We play in a rec league, so we try to get every boy at least one touch per game, which can be a challenge, but we usually only use 3 or 4 at quarterback since a dropped ball is a dead play we can't afford to lose plays. For defense, I like the fastest kids as corners and the most aggressive as rusher. Of course, rusher is a coveted position, so we try to get each kid there each game.