Quote:
Originally Posted by tomes1978
Rule 7-2-3 states:
"of the players of A who are not in their line at the snap only one may penetrate the vertical plane through the waistline of his nearest teammate who is on his line. He must have his hands in position to receive the ball if it is snapped between the snapper's legs but he is not required to receive the snap. Any other player(s) must be in legal position as a back."
So..... is it illegal for the QB to line up under the guard and then the snapper shotgun it to another back lined up in the backfield. I would say the QB was breaking the plane of a lineman but was not in "position to recieve the ball if it was snapped between the snapper's legs". We saw this the other night at a junior high game. I was not confident enough to call it, but asked the other officials and they had no idea if it was legal or not.
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We use a formation like that, but our QB doesn't quite break the plane of the snapper's waist. If he held his hands forward far enough, he would. Was the QB in the case you saw holding his hands under the guard's crotch past his waist? Was part of his head beyond that plane? A foot? Whether the snap goes to another back is immaterial, it's only whether he
could receive a snap that goes between the snapper's legs.
I've heard of single wing teams being flagged for having their QB (blocking back) breaking the plane. It can happen if his feet are too far forward and he sticks his head into one of the gaps on the line. More commonly it's wingbacks who draw the flag. Sometimes you see it in punt formations where it's hard to tell whether those are blocking backs in the A gaps or guards. I'd hate to have to rule in such a case on whether the snapper or a player to one side of him is the nearest player on A's line to a player in doubtful position. I don't know where the benefit of the doubt is supposed to go.