How do you identify eligible/ineligible recievers?

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by With_Two_Flakes

By "covered up", he means someone on the line with an eligible number who is supposed to be on the end of the line. But they are not on the end of the line because someone out wide, who should be off the line has messed up and is on the line and therefore "covering him up".

Example:- Formation should be,

..................82..71..68..55..62..77........89
..84

but #84 messes up and it actually is

..84.............82..71..68..55..62..77........89

so #82 is "covered up" because of #84's mistake.

I understand what you are saying but some of it could be a little misleading. The person being covered may not be there in error. As someone else noted, some teams line up this way intentionally for running plays. There is nothing wrong with that. Also, he may be covered up because he's supposed to be in the back field but lined up wrong (rather than the wide-out).

I would simplify the explanation as a player with an eligible number on the line of scrimmage who is not on the end.