Title says it all really. That is the question.
In US football…what is an “eligible receiver” and why not declare it every play?
On offense, nearly everyone who isn’t an offensive lineman is an eligible receiver. But even some O-linemen or other players themselves can be marked “eligible” by declaring this out loud to the ref and opposing team, as you said. Mike Vrabel, a linebacker, caught several touchdown passes as a linebacker.
But declaring an offensive lineman to be eligible every play would be a big headache and probably more trouble than worth.
By rule the last man on the line of scrimmage and each side and any player lined up in the backfield (e.g. anyone not on the line) are eligible receivers. This is always true. There must always be exactly 5 ineligible lineman on any play.
The declaration doesn’t change anything about who is and is not eligible by alignment. It’s needed because NFL has rules for who can wear what jersey number. These rules have changed some in recent years, but Offensive lineman can only wear numbers between 50 and 79. These numbers provide a useful shorthand for defenders to know whether a player needs to be covered or not.
To prevent deception via numbers, players wearing those numbers - when lined up in one of the eligible locations described above - need to declare their eligibility. That’s the only time this is relevant.
This is false. They cannot simply declare themselves eligible. They MUST be lined up in the right position, that’s the thing that actually makes them eligible, not the declaration. The declaration only addresses the jersey number issue.
From what I recall, it also needs to be communicated to the officials and if they aren’t informed then that player can draw a flag if they act as a receiver. Even declaring it aloud isn’t enough.
This happened to the Lions a few years ago.
Goff then completed a pass to left offensive tackle Taylor Decker for the two-point conversion to put the Lions ahead 21-20, and it seemed the Lions were on the verge of handing the Cowboys their first home loss of the season.
But wait. Referee Brad Allen negated the play and penalized the Lions for an illegal touch, claiming that Decker did not report in as an eligible receiver as he is required to do as an offensive tackle.
Is there a reason to not do this every play? I am guessing there is good reason not to do it since it seems a rare thing to do…I just do not get why.
Because offensive linemen are not great receivers, otherwise they’d be receivers and not linemen. You’re better off having an actual receiver (like a tight end or wide receiver) doing that job.
It’s a rare situation that this kind of play is actually helpful. Usually when you’re very close to the end zone and there isn’t a lot of room to run, and a big body with decent hands might be helpful.
Ok…but why not do it every time so you have the option?
That’s the answer above, but said another way.
You must have 5 ineligible players. That leaves the QB plus 5 more. You can either have athletes who can run and catch be those other 5 (WR/RB/TE), or you can have an extra lineman who cannot run and catch.
Late: You can do it every time you have the option but it’s probably rare to want to be in a formation where that would be an option. The rare factor is what helps make it work.
So…if the team declares Joe Lineman as eligible that makes Greg Widereceiver ineligible?
No. I think it would mean you’d just have an extra Oline man. Most formations don’t want/need that many players who can’t run and catch.
You can only have 11 total players at a time from your team on the field. That extra lineman is taking the place of someone else; in most cases someone who is a lot better.
That got me thinking, do you also need to declare if someone not wearing a 50-79 jersey is going to be lineman on a play. Say for example there has been a series of injuries to the O-line in a game so a team need / want a defensive lineman or TE to play as guard.
I don’t think I have ever heard an announcement that “36 is not an eligible receiver” but wonder if it could ever happen.
It basically means “this guy, who is usually ineligible, is going to line up in an eligible position and be eligible”. It also means a guy who would normally be there, like a wide receiver/running back/tight end, is staying on the sideline.
Normally the team has 5 lineman, 1 QB, and 5 eligible skill position receivers (on the field). If you want to make a lineman eligible, then you have 6 lineman, 1 QB, and 4 skill position receivers.
As the name suggests, skill position players are better at receiving the ball than linemen. Generally the only time you want to replace a skill player with a lineman is for short yardage situations when you want an extra blocker.
He caught the passes lined up as a tight end. He was number 50, so I think he probably had to declare, but if he had worn 90-99, legal for linebackers in his era, he wouldn’t have had to.
If I can summarize, it’s basically this?
“Usually a team’s eligible receivers are obvious because of their jersey numbers. In some situations a team will lineup with 6 O-linemen. Without specifically declaring which one of the 6 is eligible, the refs (and the defense!) would have no way of knowing, so they require the player to announce themselves”
Not really. You have to have at least 7 players on the line of scrimmage. Your position indicates whether you are eligible or not. The 2 players at the end of the lines are eligible, everyone in between them on the line is ineligible. Everyone behind the line is eligible. Note that “behind the line” is only a yard or so, so it often looks like multiple receivers are on the line, but if you look closely, some of them are a step back. So if you have 6 offensive linemen with 8 total on the line, none of the 6 in the middle are eligible. If you have 6 o-linemen with 7 total on the line, then the o-lineman at the end of the line is now eligible. But the NFL decided they don’t want that to be a deceptive play, so the require the offense ahead of time to announce a particular o-lineman is eligible for this play. He still has to position himself in an eligible location - it’s not like the right guard can declare himself eligible but still stand right next to the center.
Not quite correct.
Eligibility to be a pass receiver is determined by how you line up on the field, not by jersey number. There have to be seven players on the line, the two outermost of whom are eligible, and four players in the backfield, all of whom are eligible.
Now, because of NFL uniform number requirements, anyone eligible cannot wear numbers 50-79 (or 90-99, I think). Those numbers are reserved for offensive and defensive linemen and linebackers. Anyone wearing one of those numbers cannot line up in an eligible receiver position; to do so is a penalty.
If a team wants to use such a player in an eligible-receiver position, the player needs to report to the head referee that he will be eligible, and the referee will announce that fact before the play begins, so that the defense will know to cover the player in the event of a pass play.
I think that, once announced as an eligible receiver for a play, a player must remain as such - a formation shift before the snap cannot make the player ineligible, otherwise an eligible receiver could be made ineligible by a wideout on the same side of the field moving up to the line, and a previously ineligible player on the other side being made eligible by the wideout on that side shifting back into the backfield.
That’s just called “blocking” and it’s done on almost every play. Tight ends, in particular, spend half their time blocking and protecting the QB and/or rusher against defenders rather than running a receiving route. (That’s why TEs need to be so big.) But watch any play; you’re almost always going to see more than 5 offensive players at the line of scrimmage jamming up the defense.