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Personally, I take the term "initial position" to mean just that, the initial position assumed prior to shifts/motions. Per Webster on line "initial" means
1 : of or relating to the beginning : INCIPIENT
2 : placed at the beginning : FIRST.
The entire point of the rule, in my opinion, is to not allow A to use shifts and motion to suddenly make an ineligible player eligible while using the number exception. So in the example, 61 is not on the line in the initial position, and therefore is not considered for numbering exception rules for the rest of the down. Only those players on the line matter for numbering exceptions from their initial positions.
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