Jersey Shore 12U All-Star Tryouts: Quarterback Standouts

The defending AYF National Champions in the All-Star division–in both the 12U and 14U divisions–were back on the field this past weekend with their annual tryout. Nearly 135 prospects took the field to tryout to become a member of the decorated program. At this level and age, there is a lot of parody in terms of ability and size. With that said, there were some clear outliers and those guys quickly separated themselves from the pack. Below are the Quarterbacks that stood out to me at the tryout.   Note: Team selections are made by the coaches. Being mentioned or not mentioned below, has no baring on team selection.    Freeman was only Quarterback I was familiar with coming into the tryout, and it didn't take long for him to prove why his name was already on my radar. Out of all the QBs there, he had the most physically developed body. He was head and shoulders above the other signal callers in terms of having polished fundamentals and clearly had the strongest arm, as well. Genetics check out well here too, as his father played at Penn State and his older brother (Cole Freeman) had a great high school career at Delbarton and is now playing QB at Columbia.     Watching Venuto throw throughout the tryout, a couple things became evident pretty quickly. First thing being, that he's on the smaller side but I really like the way he played the position. Second, he was very crisp in his three-step dropback and methodical in his footwork/fundamentals. Last, and maybe most important on All-Star team, on more than one occasion I heard him explaining things to his WRs during drills. He communicated well and appeared to be an extension of the coaching staff in the huddle.     Richardson Jr. had a better tryout out than the majority of the QBs in attendance. Watching him, it's clear that he's getting away with simply being athletic enough to move around behind the line of scrimmage, as there is room for improvement on footwork and mechanics. With that said, he threw a nice spiral and did a good job of making some passes on the move. I hope to see him again down the line and see how he develops.      While scanning the QB group at the tryout, I quickly took note of Pitts because he looked appeared to be a pretty good looking athlete. He moved around well and when everything clicked in terms of footwork and weight shifting, he made some nice throws. However, there were also a few times where he wasn't settled and the pass wasn't completed. Late in the tryout he flipped over and took some reps as a Defensive Back and looked good moving around in coverage. There's something to Pitts and he has ability, it's just TBD on the position.

The defending AYF National Champions in the All-Star division–in both the 12U and 14U divisions–were back on the field this past weekend with their annual tryout. Nearly 135 prospects took the field to tryout to become a member of the decorated program. At this level and age, there is a lot of parody in terms of ability and size. With that said, there were some clear outliers and those guys quickly separated themselves from the pack. Below are the Quarterbacks that stood out to me at the tryout.