Think I goofed..

2nd and 8 for team A. Quarterback rolls right and gets tackled for no gain. There was a 5 yard face mask penalty on the play. Is the result after the penalty....

2nd and 3 or 3rd and 3?

I'm not sure if the down gets replayed.

5 yard penalty and replay the down. 2nd and 3.

Thanks

3rd and 8 if the penalty is declined.

Why bother to give them the option to decline this one? No way would one let them decline it.

Two times when I can think of when A might want to decline the penalty:

1. 4th quarter, time expires during the down. A is leading the game. A doesn't want the untimed down. Thus, they might decline the penalty to end the game.

2. 4th quarter, 3 seconds to go in the game. A is down by by two points. A's field goal kicker doesn't want to be any closer due to the angle of the kick. Thus, he wants to decline the distance.

Why not explain the options to the captain and let him decide? Is that such a bad thing to let a player know a little bit about the rules and options?

Because the accepted practice is to give the option that benefits the team the most. Losing a down and taking a yardage loss by declining the other teams foul is not one of those options.

If any choice is non-obvious, you must explain it as clearly as possible. However for an obvious choice such as this play, there is no need to unless the captain objects. If he really wants the non-obvious choice then by all means, let him.