Our association has discussed the case listed below and cannot agree if this situation is legal. I believe this case violates the scrimmage kick formation exception but I cannot convince some of my fellow officials. Please help us resolve this case.
A contrasting situation is when Team A is in a scrimmage kick formation, but they have five linemen on the field numbered from 50-79. Team A player #80 lines up as a tackle inside Team A's end #79. Then Team A executes a legal shift during which #80 moves to the outside of#79. While #80 was initially ineligible due to position, after the shift he is now eligible by number and position due to the shift. Team A remains in a scrimmage kick formation, fakes the kick and throws a forward pass beyond the neutral zone to #80.
My interpretation is that this is legal and that Team A's shift permitted #80 to become an eligible receiver since #80 was NOT an example of the 7-2-5 numbering exception on scrimmage kicks.
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