IIRC, one of the key elements of intentional grounding is that there is no receiver in the vicinity. This applies with or without the ball being thrown out of bounds.
If there is a receiver, you may throw out of bounds, in fact, that’s the safest possible way to throw a ball away. If there is no receiver, then even throwing out of bounds won’t prevent an intentional-grounding flag from being thrown on you.
I stand corrected on that one. Thank you (and thank you, @muldoonthief).
I have seen illegal touching called on balls thrown into a lineman’s back many times.
If the QB throws them deliberately at a lineman, sure. The intent is the operative part.
If a QB is hit as he throws and the ball ends up hitting a lineman, I wouldn’t expect to see a flag thrown as the trajectory was clearly unintentional.
Why would the QB ever intentionally throw at a lineman’s back?
To avoid a sack and an Intentional Grounding call if for whatever reason he can’t throw it out of bounds.
Yeah, I would agree with this. I thought that if a OL first touches a pass it’s ALWAYS a penalty. But not according to the rules cited in this thread.