When you are planning out a defensive playbook for youth football players, the smartest thing you can do is to keep it simple. You don’t want to make things too complicated for your kids because they will end up feeling intimidated by your playbook and it will seriously diminish the amount of fun they have playing the game. Let’s take a look at some of the most basic free youth defensive football plays that are perfect for youth football.

The most famous defensive football play is the blitz. Since the rules vary from youth football league to youth football league, some leagues have banned blitzing because it puts too much pressure on the opposing quarterback and it can lead to injuries. But if your league does allow blitzing, it is a must have in your free youth defensive football plays. A blitz is simply a defensive football play where the defense sends more defenders at the quarterback then the offense can block.

A blitz usually involves sending the defensive line, as well as the linebackers to try to tackle the quarterback before he can get rid of the ball. Blitzing is all about timing. It takes a set amount of time for the wide receivers on offence to run their routes and what the defense is banking on when they blitz is that they can get to the quarterback and sack him before the wide outs can get to the pre-designated spot to catch the ball. The offense can set up a few obstacles to prevent, or at least delay, a blitz.

Many times, if a long pass play has been called that is going to take time to develop, the offense will have a fullback and a running back in the backfield with the quarterback to help block blitzing players. The only problem with this strategy is that most fullbacks and running backs can’t block very well since it isn’t really their job. A well-trained linebacker or defensive lineman should be able to plow through a fullback or running back to complete the sack more times then not.

A second kind of blitz is an all out blitz. This is an extremely dangerous play to run, but it can be a big play if the offense is facing a second and long or a third and long situation. With an all out blitz, not only do the defensive linemen and the linebackers run forward to try to sack the quarterback, but the cornerbacks do as well.

They usually take an outside route to the quarterback, coming around the tackle box, instead of trying to run through it. This leaves your safeties to play one-on-one with the wide receivers. If there are more than two wide outs lined up in the formation, either call off the all out blitz or leave a corner or a linebacker to pick up the receiver.

The reason this play works is that to pick up a third and long, you need extra time for your receivers to run the distance needed. If the quarterback is under immediate and intense pressure, the wide outs won’t have time to get to where they need to be. The worst case scenario here is that the quarterback lofts up a pass, the wide out catches it but is still far short of the first down. Using these two blitzes will prove to be invaluable to your list of free youth defensive football plays.