Lineman/judge pre-snap hand signals.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by NDRef

As a wing I will not argue about "better or easier", but will state how our crew uses the balanced/unbalanced signals. These signals aid in the communication of the entire crew. When we count lineman and we are unbalanced, we now have a player who is "covered up" by someone else on the end of the line of scrimmage. If the player who is covered is wearing a number that allows him to "normally" be eligible to catch a pass--our signals have now communicated to each wing and the back judge (and the referee) that we have a potential ineligible in the line of scrimmage. The normal "keys" will be impacted if this "ineligible" runs a fly pattern right at the back judge and a pass is thrown. Because of our signals we are all aware of the penalty\potential penalty.

Just food for thought on how\why we use the signals.

Just because you have an unbalanced line doesn't mean you have a covered tight end. This could be the line of scrimmage:

TE OL C OL OL OL SE

You've got 2 on one side and 4 on the other but no normally eligible receiver is covered up. Am I missing something?

rdfox made a similar comment regarding covered receivers being the responsibility of the R and U. I disagree. The R is watching the quarterback and has no idea what is happening down field. The U is keyed on the linemen and line of scrimmage. In the situation of a covered receiver, I find it easier for a wing official to make note of, watch that receivers initial move, and determine if he may violate the rule at that point. If he goes downfield then pay attention to where the ball goes if there is a pass. It doesn't happen very often and I've found it easy to officiate while not giving up on my other normal keys.