What was with Diarse getting called for Illegal receiver downfield?

Only the outside player on the line of scrimmage is elgible. Either Diarse or whoever lined up outside of him was supposed to be off of the line of scrimmage. When they were both on, that made Diarse ineligible to go out for a pass.

I Didn't see the actual play but I'm guessing he was lined up on the line of scrimmage in the slot and was supposed to be off the line. He would have been covered by the outside receiver thus making him ineligible.

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Diarse was split out in the slot. Either he or the wideout needed to be off of the line of scrimmage.

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yep but i think there was a te that he covered up...i think if there is a te the slot has to line up off the line and wideout on the line?

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He was covered up by another WR.

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I actually saw this before the ball was snapped. We had two wideouts on the Miss St side of the field. Diarse in the slot, and I don't know who was outside. Both were on the line of scrimmage making Diarse ineligible to go down field. I don't know which of the two was supposed to be off.


The rule states that eligible receivers are:
A) have a # between 1-49 or 80-99
B) the last man on the line of scrimmage
C) all players in the backfield (off the line of scrimage)

Covered up clearly, only the two widest guys on the LOS are eligible to catch a pass.

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Nope if he covered up the TE, the TE would be ineligible. He was covered up by another WR.

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yeh that sounds right...thanks

I guess to help the defense identify eligible receivers. That way they won't worry about covering a player that can't go down field.

Watch at 1:16:30 in this video. LSU lined up with a lineman split out to the right, but he just stands there and doesn't go anywhere. Richard Dickson is lined up on the left in the tackle spot. However, the receiver split out wide of him is off the line of scrimmage, thus making Dickson eligible to go out for a pass. Ohio St covered the bunched receivers out to the right, and nobody had Dickson.

LINK

Lined up wrong.

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I understand why he was flagged but I don't really understand the purpose of this rule.

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Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. And the player at the ends of the line on the LOS can't go in motion when set. You must have at least 7 players lined up on the LOS each play. You can have more(think goal line formations), but not less.

It's all about being eligible / ineligible to go out for a pass, mostly for the refs and D to know who can and can't go out for a pass. And the rule provides structure for that. Without it, everyone would be lining up all over the place and still would be eligible/ineligible WR, depending on a new rule. And there is a # exception... You can have an OL that's #73 go out for a pass IF he lines up correctly as an eligible receiver and IF he reports to the ref and tells them that he's eligible for this play. The ref will then announce it to the D so they are aware of it.