Jersey Shore 12U All-Star Tryouts: WR/DB and Tight End 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 Wide Receiver, Defensive Back and Tight End prospects that stood out to me from the tryout.   Note: Team selections are made by the coaches. Being mentioned or not mentioned below, has no baring on team selection.    Wilson was one of the prospects that passed the eye test right away, when I first got a glimpse of him. In an interesting twist, he was at the RB/LB portion of the tryout and left prior to the WR/DB/QB portion. However, a prospect with his length and ball skills give me all the Wide Receiver vibes. He was smooth, had reliable hands and had a height advantage over most kids there. Couple that with a Dad that played his share of D1 ball and there's a ton of potential and ability here.     Like [player_tooltip player_id='1506488' first='Xavier' last='Wilson'] above, O'Brien is another prospect that came to the RB/LB tryout and was an immediate head-turner. Thankfully, he stayed for the WR/DB/QB portion of the tryout and he confirmed my hunch--this kid has the potential to be a stud Tight End. O'Brien moved through bag drills exceptionally well. He has the size and adequate muscle mass to play TE on this team and also showed physicality when it was time to bang in hitting drills.     In my opinion, Rohan was was easily the the best Wide Receiver/Defensive Back at the tryout. He checked nearly every box for me in terms of physical ability. He was crisp and smooth in his movements--both back pedaling as a Defensive Back and running routes as a Wide Receiver. He stayed balanced and wasted little movement. Has the size and length to play Safety and/or Wide Receiver at a high level. Currently in a period of football where big corners are coveted, Rohan is that guy. He's a very good one.     While he may be on the smaller side in terms of size, Graham played significantly bigger than his stature throughout the tryout. Yet another prospect who took part in both the RB/LB and WR/DB/QB portions of the trout, his skill set was versatile. He played with toughness and attitude throughout the day, finishing runs as if he was annoyed the defender was hanging on to him for too long. Where he really stood out to me was on the defensive side of the ball. Tackled low and wasn't afraid to line it up against anyone.     With a few dudes that can stretch the field vertically and a few possession guys to keep the chains moving, Berkley would be a nice mixture of the two styles. Berkley has good size and was a little thicker than some of the other WRs at the tryout, but didn't necessarily look as quick in drills as some of the others either--hence the WR/TE position distinction. His hands were reliable throughout the day and he was clearly one of the better kids there. If he ends up making the team, I could see him being a real threat in the red zone.     As mentioned above in Berkley's write up, this Jersey Shore 12U AYF All-Star team has the potential to have some good looking WRs that can go vertical with ease, WRs like [player_tooltip player_id='1493511' first='Vito' last='Guccione']. The only Middletown prospect to kind of separate himself on the day, Guccione has a big catch radius with his long limbs.     Block was arguably the most consistent pass catcher at the tryout. Didn't "wow" in terms of physical stature or explosive play. Yet, every time I noticed him on a rep, he caught the ball and/or made a positive play. He's a keep-the-chains-moving kind of kid who is willing to block and should be able to make some grabs underneath in space.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Additional Standouts</h2>   Julian Simpkins | Sayreville (Youth Program) | 2030   Brayden D'Ambrosio | Southern Rams (Youth Program) | 2030   Milo Moore | Manchester Hawks (Youth Program) | 2031

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 Wide Receiver, Defensive Back and Tight End prospects that stood out to me from the tryout.