why 6 men? (1 Viewer)

You only get flagged for less. You can have 10 on the line as long as 8 have ineligible numbers.
 
It's seven men, and it's to declare eligible/ineligible receivers. Any player on the line of scrimmage that is not covered by another player on the line of scrimmage is ineligible to receive passes. Alignment/judgment is based on which side of the ball a player lines up.

So, hypothetically, a tight end could line up on the LOS next to a left guard, and be uncovered by the wide receiver to his left -- and be eligible to catch a pass. The left tackle would then have to line up on the right side of the line, and be covered by a receiver so as to make him ineligible (because otherwise, you waste an eligible receiver spot on a lineman at the expense of a receiver being eligible). LSU pulled this on OSU in the BCS championship game, and Richard Dickson was wide open.


Acceptable (numerals are for eligible receivers, X's for ineligible):


Code:
1     X X X X X 3
   2      Q          4

          5
- ace form, 3-wide

Code:
1     X X X X X 2
          Q          3

          4
          5
- I-formation

Code:
1     X X X X X   4
   2            3   5

          Q
- shotgun, 5-wide


unacceptable:

Code:
1    X X X X X 
         Q      2   3

       4   5
- not enough men on the line
Code:
1 2 3  X X X X X       
           Q         

       4   5
- No cover on the right
Code:
1    2 X X X X X  3     
           Q         4

           5
- 2 is ineligible to receive passes, as he is left-covered by 1
 
Last edited:
I could ask "Why" on a ton of the NFL's rules.

Exactly. It's part of the rules, it is basically arbitrary. But it's a constant that dictates how the game is played. And really, 7 on the line keeps you from doing a variety of different things that you could otherwise do, but it makes the game the game. Just like the width of the field and the number of yards you need for a first down. Different tweaks up and down would change the nature of the game. The game we have requires 7 men on the line.
 
It's seven men, and it's to declare eligible/ineligible receivers. Any player on the line of scrimmage that is not covered by another player on the line of scrimmage is ineligible to receive passes. Alignment/judgment is based on which side of the ball a player lines up.

so then the rule is something like there can only be 6 eligible receivers (including qb)??
thank you dan for the insight
everyone else thank you for giving my scroll finger a workout while i waited for dan's answer
 
so then the rule is something like there can only be 6 eligible receivers (including qb)??
thank you dan for the insight
everyone else thank you for giving my scroll finger a workout while i waited for dan's answer
Yes. See the diagrams above. LSU ran out something like this against OSU on the aforementioned play:


Code:
     TE  LG  C  RG  RT     LT      WR
WR           Q                   WR    WR

Everyone is properly covered/uncovered, making the formation legal.
 

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