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Free Football Player Evaluation Form
A mid-season report you can hand a parent: football skills rated against the age group, a section for each position group, and the space that matters most, in words, for what went well, what to work on, and one thing to practice at home.
What a football player evaluation should include
Nine rows in the main table, one table for the position skills, and three open-ended sections at the end.
- The main table. Speed, agility, physicality, tackling, blocking, catching, position play, football IQ and coachability, rated against the age group, with a column for what you saw.
- Position skills. Throwing accuracy and command of the huddle for quarterbacks; vision and ball security for backs; routes and hands for receivers; stance, hand placement and leverage for linemen; tackling technique and reads for linebackers and defensive backs. Fill in the rows that match the player's position and leave the rest blank.
- The writing. What went well (the strengths), what to work on (the areas for improvement), and one thing to practice at home.
- The last line. The date you went through it with the player. Worth filling in for the same reason a receipt is.
Effort and coachability are the exception to rating against the age group. They are marked against what you saw from this athlete, because nobody is below average for a ten-year-old at trying hard.
Football player evaluation versus tryout evaluation
The two sheets rate similar skills and do different jobs.
- A tryout evaluation compares players. Several evaluators score the same group in one session, and the average sheets help a league place players or balance teams. The football tryout evaluation form is built for that, and the football tryouts guide covers running the session.
- A player evaluation describes one player. One coach, about halfway through the season, rating a player against the age group rather than teammates, with the writing a family keeps. That is this page. Its scale reads as strengths and focus areas for that reason.
| Tryout evaluation | Player evaluation | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Before the season | About halfway through it |
| Who scores | Several evaluators, independently | Usually one coach |
| Compared with | The rest of the group | What is typical for the age group |
| Used for | Placing players and balancing teams by age, weight and skill | Development and a talk with the family |
| What you hand over | An averaged scorecard | A written report a parent keeps |
A league that holds evaluation days can use both: the tryout sheet to place players before the season, and this one halfway through it to say how each of them is doing.
Football comments a parent can act on
The numbers give the page its shape and the sentences are what a family remembers. Vague praise and vague criticism are equally useless, and football has a specific thing to say about almost everything. Compare:
- Blocking. Not "needs to block better". Try "gets a good first step but stands up on contact. Staying low through the first two steps is the next thing."
- Tackling. Not "needs to tackle". Try "closes well but slows down in the last two steps. We are working on shortening the approach and finishing with the feet moving."
- Ball security. Not "fumbled twice". Try "carries the ball away from the body when a defender closes. Ball high and tight, with the elbow in, ten carries at practice."
- Attitude. Not "great attitude". Try "stayed on the sideline engaged all game, calling out the formation, even when we were down by three scores."
The last section, one thing to practice at home, is the most useful line on the page and the one most often left blank. In football it is usually easy: a stance, a first step, a catch against a wall, ten minutes in a yard.
Rate the position, not the size
The position section can do real good, and a careless one does harm. A few rules for the rows the form gives it:
- Rate what the position needs. A quarterback is rated on accuracy, decisions and the huddle. A lineman is rated on stance, hands and leverage. A back is rated on vision and ball security. Size is not on the list.
- A big player is not a lineman, and a small player is not a back. Rate the skills, and let the position follow. Players grow at different times, and the position that fits at ten often changes by thirteen.
- Comment on technique, not toughness. A comment about how a player tackles or blocks gives a family something to practice. A comment about toughness gives them only a verdict.
- Mention head and neck safety as a coach would. If a player has had a hit that worried you, or a concussion this season, the evaluation is a place to say what your league's process was. Follow your league's and your state's rules on return to play.
Other sports, and the general version
This is the football version. The general player evaluation form works for any sport, and the football forms and templates page lists the other 5 football documents.
Playbook Logix provides customizable templates for informational and administrative use. They are not legal advice and will not meet the requirements of every organization, sport or jurisdiction. Review anything you intend to rely on with your own attorney or your insurance carrier, and check your league and state requirements.
Common questions
What should a football player evaluation form include?
Ratings for speed, agility, physicality, tackling, blocking, catching, position play, football IQ and coachability, a short section for the skills of the position the player plays, and three pieces of writing: what went well, what to work on, and one thing to practice at home. The writing is the part a family keeps.
When should we give out football player evaluations?
About halfway through the schedule. Football seasons are often short, so halfway comes quickly, and a report handed out at the last practice is a report card, accurate and too late. The same page at the midpoint is a plan with games left to act on it.
Should linemen, backs and receivers be rated differently?
In a section of their own, yes. A lineman is judged on stance, hand placement and leverage, a back on vision and ball security, a receiver on routes and hands. Rate the rows that match the position the player plays most, and leave the others blank.
How do I evaluate a lineman who never touches the ball?
On what they do on every snap. Football hides a lot of work in the line: the stance, the first step, the hands and the finish. Those rows and the football IQ row are where linemen show up, and the comments are where you say so, because they rarely appear anywhere else.
Should I rate players against their teammates?
No. Rate against what is typical for the age group. A ranking inside the team gives a family a list of your own roster, which tells them nothing and does harm if it circulates. The form says on its face which comparison you used.
Do I have to give one to every player?
Yes. Evaluating the ball carriers and skipping the line tells the line where they stand in the coaching staff's attention. Short and honest for everyone beats thorough for the players who touch the ball.
More football tools
The rest of the football toolkit
Football Registration Form
Positions, weight for divisions, head and neck injury history, uniform sizes and three jersey number choices, on a form for sign-up day.
Open the generatorFootball Code of Conduct
Contact, equipment, heat and water rules for players, and sideline and head-injury rules for parents, on one page with one signature.
Open the generatorFootball Tryout Evaluation Form
A scoring grid for speed, agility, tackling, blocking, catching and football IQ, with a table for the 40-yard dash, shuttle and vertical.
Open the generatorFootball Tryouts & Evaluation Guide
A two-hour run of show, seven stations from the 40-yard dash to a team period, a staffing plan, and a heat, contact and head-injury safety plan.
Read the guideFootball Equipment & Uniform Checkout
Helmet, shoulder pads, hip, thigh and knee pads, jersey and pants, with ID numbers, size, condition and replacement cost, and a return date.
Open the generatorPlaybook Logix
What Playbook Logix tracks behind a football evaluation
Playbook Logix is registration, rosters, payments, schedules and team messaging for youth and adult sports, in one place. A report is only as good as the season behind it. This is what Playbook Logix keeps so the report is quicker to write.
Attendance behind the report
Mark each player present or absent from your phone at the field, and on the web see every player against every event with an attendance percentage. It is the number a parent is really asking about when they ask about playing time. Free on every plan.
How it worksThe player and the family together
Jersey number, position and the parent's contact details sit on the roster, so the player you are writing about is one click from the adult you are handing the report to.
How it worksReach families without a group text
A team message board for things that need a record, live chat for the quick stuff, and reminders that respect quiet hours, so parents see a schedule change and do not mute the app.
How it worksThe Starter plan is free, and the iPhone and Android app is free on every plan. Anything described above as Coach plan and above needs a paid plan. See the plans or the mobile app. Nothing you type into the template above is sent to us, whether or not you ever sign up.
Keep the whole season in one place
Schedules, attendance, messages to the team and a roster that is the same in everyone's pocket. There is a free plan.