The rule is that there must be seven players on the line of scrimmage. They don’t have to be ‘contiguous’ to each other, but they must on the line. Furthermore, of those seven, only the two on the ‘outside’ are eligible receivers. So there are always five players on the line who are not eligible receivers.
So, in this formation, Elliott is obviously on the line and is not an eligible receiver. The player to his immediate left is a yard back, thus not on the line and is an eligible receiver. Then the next two players (66 and 73, the ones I was talking about), are on the line, and are NOT eligible receivers. The player on the bottom of the screen is on the line, and is the ‘tight end’ in this formation and is an eligible receiver. The same is true to Elliott’s right: eligible, not eligible, not eligible, eligible.
Hope this makes sense! 66 and 73 are both definitely downfield before the pass was thrown and should have been flagged.
ETA: Even if there are more than 7 men on the line of scrimmage, only the outside two are eligible receivers.
Thanks, it does make sense. For some reason I thought the first person not on the line defined the end of it, so thanks for setting me straight.
But my question remains about reporting as eligible receivers. Both 66 and 73 could have reported as eligible before the play, correct? And if it’s legal for them to both report, would there be any reason they wouldn’t have?
Yes, they could report, but then they would have to line up as eligible receivers, either on the end of the line, or not on the line at all.
Remember, there can only be six players eligible to catch a pass, and that includes the quarterback. So if 66 and 73 reported as eligible receivers, and lined up as such, two other players (tight end, wide receiver, running back, or quarterback) would have to line up as interior linemen and thus ineligible.
An NFL quarterback can be an eligible receiver, but only if he isn’t lined up immediately behind the center. Thus, a QB in the shotgun formation is an eligible receiver, but a QB who takes a direct snap isn’t an eligible receiver.
Wow, I did not know that rule. We all have seen trick plays where the QB takes the snap, hands it off, and then later catches a pass. But obviously none of those plays begin with the QB under center.