Polyethylene glycol(PEG) solution was used to simulate drought conditions for the identification and evaluation of drought resistance of foxtail millet germplasm resources during the indoor germination stage. This process aimed to screen for high-quality cultivars with drought resistance. In this experiment, two drought-resistant foxtail millet cultivars, Jigu 37 and Jigu 38, were utilized as the tested materials, and Yugu 18, a widely adaptable cultivar in the north China summer foxtail millet region, was taken as the control. Different concentrations of PEG were used to impose drought stress, and after 7 days of stress, the contents of chlorophyll(Chl), betaine, free proline(Pro), malondialdehyde(MDA), and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase(POD) in the young leaves were measured. The results indicated that, compared to the control cultivar Yugu 18, Jigu 37 and Jigu 38 exhibited significantly reduced malondialdehyde content under moderate and severe drought stress (12% and 18% PEG), Jigu 38 had significant increase in osmotic regulation substance, free proline, content under moderate and severe drought stress, both Jigu 37 and Jigu 38 had significant increase in betaine content. Jigu 38 possessed significantly enhanced SOD activity, but the SOD activity of Jigu 37 was only significantly higher than that of Yugu 18 under mild and severe drought stress(6% and 18% PEG). The POD activity of Jigu 37 and Jigu 38 was significantly reduced under severe drought stress. Jigu 38 exhibited significantly enhanced chlorophyll content, while, Jigu 37 only exhibited significantly enhanced chlorophyll content under mild and moderate drought stress(6% and 12% PEG). Comprehensive analysis of multiple physiological indexes showed that Jigu 37 and Jigu 38 had stronger drought resistance at the seedling stage, they were superior to Yugu 18 on drought resistance, and the drought resistance of Jigu 38 was better than that of Jigu 37.