What Is An Ineligible Receiver In Football?

On the offensive team, there are two types of receiver, eligible receivers and ineligible receivers. An eligible receiver is a player who can be the target of a forward pass. An ineligible receiver is a player who cannot be the target of a forward pass, and is usually an offensive lineman, running back or a wide receiver.

What Is The Difference Between Ineligible and Eligible Receivers in Football?

The eligible receivers are the wide receivers and tight ends. These players are closest to the quarterback so they can receive the ball first. The ineligible receivers are the centers, offensive tackles, and offensive linemen. The centers, linemen, and tackles are farther away from the quarterback than the receivers.

But why even play this game? Why create the rule that limits the amount of offensive possessions a team can control? Why not just let teams play whenever they want?

I’m not a huge football fan, but I have to admit, this was an interesting read.

This is why the line between offense and defense is a thin line
The NFL is not only a passing league, but the majority of the leagues rules and terminology for play are based around the offensive game.

How Do Football Teams Know Which Receivers are Ineligible or Eligible?

Defensive backs can look at the snap count to see if the quarterback has an eligible receiver as the last offensive player in the backfield. If they’re looking at the eligible receivers, defensive backs can also look for the quarterback to drop back and look for an eligible receiver in the flats, but this is not as common.

Offensive linemen have many responsibilities on the field. The most important of these is to occupy defenders so that they don’t have time to move into a player’s lane. While they also have jobs to execute in the run game and pass game, they are also responsible for defensive line assignments.
[Cliche]: Offensive lineman play has improved. During the 1970s and into the 1980s, the offense would occasionally go out of the shotgun and it would be nearly impossible to tell who the quarterback was. Now, offenses rarely go out of the shotgun. The offense has become more balanced, and many times, linemen are involved in the passing game even though the coaches are trying to hide it.

The NFL rule says that a receiver can never become ineligible because they ran out of bounds. The only exceptions are if the player was pushed out of bounds by a defender or if the runner ran out of bounds by himself. If this happens, he becomes eligible after those two things have occurred.

Finally, all players who line up under-center in the back of a T-formation are ineligible receivers unless they line up at the line of scrimmage and are stationary for at least one second before the snap of the ball. This formation occurs in wildcat or quarterback option plays, where the passer slots in as an eligible receiver.

The offensive line is responsible for the first seven defenders (five linemen and two linebackers) plus the quarterback.

Strategic Use of Ineligible Receivers

The New England Patriots have been playing the game a little different in training camp. Typically, the Patriots declare a player out of the game and then move them over to the sidelines. However, this season the team has had the player “fake-out” an opposing defense by lining them up to play like a receiver on certain downs against a specific defense and then declaring them out the next down. It’s a clever strategy by the Patriots and their coaching staff.

When the Patriots use their “receiver formation” on fourth down, they are essentially using it because there is a clear shot at the end zone, and they have to score. This formation is used because of a running back getting the ball and running for the end zone. In most cases, the wide receivers are used to block the defender during the run.

The biggest part of this rule is to eliminate any confusion in which the offense may start to line up on the line of scrimmage with their eligible receivers in the end zone.

The NFL has also attempted to clarify that this rule applies to the quarterbacks as well.

What is an Ineligible Receiver Downfield Penalty?

In the NFL, if a quarterback hits an ineligible receiver in the back, it also can result in a penalty, but the referee won’t throw a flag. If a receiver in the NFL is hit in a back-to-back manner, if that player is not an eligible receiver, he cannot leave the field of play.

The ineligible defender is a defender who is more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage. If the ball is thrown to an ineligible defender, the ball will be spotted five yards back and the offensive team will be penalized five yards.

Conclusion about Ineligible Receivers in Football

In summary, a quarterback can only throw to eligible receivers. A wide receiver can only catch. If a wide receiver throws the ball, it is an incomplete pass, and the defense can return it. If a quarterback throws a bomb to a wide receiver, usually the quarterback is flagged for intentional grounding out of bounds, or pass interference.