High School Players of the Year

Quick question:

When you are putting together the all-area prep football team, how many times have you ever had a lineman as the Player of the Year?
We have two teams (a large and small school division).
My boss wants to make a linemen (one for each division) POY.

One lineman is a D-I recruit. I have seen him play several times and he's a recruit solely because of his size, not ability.
If you listed the top players on the field during a game you wouldn't notice him. I realize that's a great thing on offense, but on defense this kid seldom makes a tackle or is much of a presence in the backfield.

Our small school limeman, is supposed to be an "invited walk on' to a D-I school. He's not that physically imposing. And IMO not even the top lineman on the team.

I can maybe see one lineman as a POY - once in a blue moon - but two in the same year?

How many lineman have ever been POY in your area?

 

Why does your boss want to make linemen the players of the year? Does he just think linemen are overlooked or does he think these guys are the best players?

How do you pick your team? Is there some input from others?

If your boss is making these picks on his own, can you just tell him to do the damn story?

And to answer your question, it is fairly rare but it happens that tight ends/linemen make player of the year, but they better be the top recruits in the area.

 

Linemen rarely get POY because they have few ways to quantify their success, particularly offensive linemen. The only way you can make one a POY is if you see all or most of that team's games, and 90 percent of the plays are behind him. Plus linemen aren't islands; they've got one or two guys next to them in the play as well, so it's not as cut-and-dried as "well, we ran for 400 yards because Jumbo McGirtz is a hell of a warrior in the trenches."

 

He thinks they are the best players. However, this mnan has been to five games in five years. He doesn't go to HS football games.

Our sports staff picks the teams. Half the staff takes the large school, the other half takes the small school.
He reserves right to veto any selections - after all, he is the boss.

 

Sounds like the boss is being a jackass. Forget whether or not it is rare. You've seen more games and you know these guys aren't the best choices. Now the question is if you can get your boss to see reason.

Did he even try to explain what gave him the impression that these linemen are the best players in the area?

 

Is he a ginormous fatass? Fat guys like me have a natural empathy for linemen, y'know.

 

I was an offensive lineman. My all-area ballot listed 15 guys. The other two writers struggled to put together five.

That said, I can't imagine a situation where I woud pick one as of the POY. Perhaps if your "area" was like three or four schools and there was no outstanding RB or QB, but that's not the case here.

 

if that is what he wants, make him write the story. then calls will go to him, and for the teams, say compiled by staff. put it on his ass if he is going to be like that.

 

Our paper, which covers seven schools, breaks down All-Area into:
- Offensive Player of the Year (95 percent of the time is a QB or RB)
- Defensive Player of the Year (95 percent of the time is a LB, but linemen have won or come in second or third before)
- Lineman of the Year (covers both sides of the trenches)
- Offensive Sophomore of the Year (lineman won this three years ago)
- Defensive Sophomore of the Year (lineman has also won this)

12-Player Offensive team was broken down to 1-QB, 3-RB, 2-WR, 5-OL, 1-K
12-Played Defensive team was broken down to 5-DL, 3-LB, 3-CB/FS/SS, 1-P

Coaches had 77 percent of the vote, writers 22 percent. Usually goes off without a hitch. Coaches get their say, every position is represented.

Set-up might not work in all coverage areas, though.

 

do you do a story on all those award winners?

 

Yes, stories are 500-650 words on the individual award winners.

Only one story on the all-area team itself, which is also 500-650 words.

First team All-Area get mugshots and info box (name, grade, school, position).

Second-team put in a box, line by line.
Honorable mention put in box, in paragraph form by school.

All-Area runs as a four-page wrap every Thanksgiving, but we'll always get the dumbass that calls our SE or our ME wondering why it takes so long to come out and how we don't care about football.

 

damn, when does the season end for you guys to turn that around?