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If you bother to actually look up and read, Case Book 9.9.3.B, you'll find the last sentence of the ruling specifically relates to both the "wrong tee" play as well as the "wrong ball" play, and a bunch of others of the same ilk. It continues to advise, after explaining that deception and trickery are part of the game, "However actions or verbiage designed to confuse the defense into believing there is a problem and the snap isn't imminent is beyond the scope of sportsmanship."
Running a player off the sideline violates the formation rules, and could also be overed by NF: 9.5.1.g as an overt act of cheating.
Who has decided that, first, this A-11 formation provides an advantage to the offense? It seems to hold for a fair amount of additional risk for whoever is holding the ball to get steamrolled. When it might provide an advantage, by creating confusion in the defensive ranks, who has decided that such an advantage is unfair.
Throughout the history of football new strategies have been tried and have often gained a temporary advantge until defensive countermeasures were developed to render the new strategy ineffective. New strategies developed being negated by new countermeasures is a "back and forth" as old as the game.
Today's defensive teams aren't stupid and we should expect will react to any new strategies presented to them, given the opportunity to understand the attack and develop countermeasures.
Any, and all, offensive formations have to comply with current shift, motion and allignment requirements, and as long as they follow those rules can pretty much do as they like, as long as they satisfy the requirement to all pause simultaneously for that 1 second before the snap. No matter who does what, there are never going to be more than 6 eligible receivers, and for a number of decades, defensive teams were able to deal with recognition before the numbering requirements were established.
I think the weakness of this strategy is the level of precision and timing necessary for the offense to comply with all the above rules, and still defend properly against a focused, alert defense.
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