Pictures always help in the learning process. One caveat: It says a max of five eligibles. True for the first couple of formations. But the other formations CORRECTLY show six eligibles per formation.

I think they are not including the QB as an eligible. In actual play, you do have a max of 5 eligibles, as one of the 6 (usually the QB) has to be behind the line to throw the ball in the first place. Those first 2 formations show 4 eligible receivers, not 5.

However the QB can become an eligible receiver once the play develops.

The QB is an eligible receiver at the snap.

QB is a back but is allowed to penetrate the vertical plane through the waistline of his nearest teammate who is on his line. As a back, as long as he has a legal number, he is an eligible receiver.

Someone with the ball can't be a reciever, as soon as he gives it to someone else then he becomes a reciever and is elligible. That's my 2 cents.

Just don't forget about us referees who work 8-man games. You can have any number jersey anywhere on the field, so it makes it tough to see the ineligibles down the field. There are no numbering requirements.

:(

I understand your point. But read the rules regarding 6-man football in the back of the rules book. QB can\'t catch his own pass unless B touches it first. The pass is ruled incomplete but not illegal. So he can be a passer and a receiver on the same play.

When I umpire and I read pass, I move up to the LOS. Normally, the O-line is in a \'pack\' in pass protection. I give them the leeway of the 2 yards of expanded neutral zone. Usually an O-lineman who goes illegally downfield stands out like a sore thumb in that they are not part of the \'pack\'. I find this call to be fairly easy to make if I am in the right position.