In gridiron football, an ineligible receiver downfield, or an ineligible man downfield, is a penalty called against the offensive team when a forward pass is thrown while a player who is ineligible to receive a pass is beyond the line of scrimmage without blocking an opponent at the time of the pass.[1] A player is determined ineligible based on his position at the time of the snap. When the ball is snapped, the offense is required to have no more than eleven players on the field, out of whom only six are eligible. On most plays, the eligible receivers include the quarterback, running backs, fullbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers, while the ineligible receivers are offensive linemen, including the center, offensive guards, and offensive tackles.[2][3] However, in the National Football League, a quarterback is an ineligible receiver if he is directly under the center when he receives the snap.
The rule varies among leagues. In the NFL, ineligible receivers must have at least part of their body no more than 1 yard beyond the line of scrimmage when a pass is thrown, unless they are engaged in a continuous block that began prior to leaving the 1-yard zone. In college football, the NCAA allows ineligible receivers a maximum of 3 yards.[4][5] The penalty in both the NFL and NCAA is 5 yards.[1][6] The NCAA allows for an exception on screen plays, where the ineligible player is allowed to cross the line of scrimmage to go out and block when the ball is caught behind the line of scrimmage.
^ ab"NFL Rules Digest: Forward Pass". www.nfl.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-22. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
^"Know Your Annoying Penalties: Ineligible Man Downfield". Team Speed Kills. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
^"What Does "Ineligible Receiver Downfield" Mean?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
^"Illegal man downfield rule will be enforced 'as it's written' in 2016, NCAA officiating chief says". AL.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
^"Football Rules Committee approves proposals to enhance player safety". NCAA.com. 2016-02-11. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
^"NCAA Football: 2016 and 2017 Rules and Interpretations" (PDF). July 19, 2017. pp. 71–73.
and 23 Related for: Ineligible receiver downfield information
forward pass crossing the neutral zone is thrown, a foul of "ineligiblereceiverdownfield" (resulting in a penalty of five yards, but no loss of down)...
motion Illegal forward pass Illegal touching of a forward pass Ineligiblereceiverdownfield Illegal substitution It is used similarly to the professional...
calling it the "halo rule". Penalties for offensive holding and ineligiblereceiverdownfield were 10 yards, instead of 15. Several years later, these became...
infraction" (neutral zone infraction), and "ineligible retriever downfield" (ineligiblereceiverdownfield). Three special "penalty calls" were introduced...
during a failed field goal attempt, instead penalizing him for ineligiblereceiverdownfield. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue described the situation as the...
on Okeafor, but instead called ineligiblereceiverdownfield on Seubert, even though he in fact was an eligible receiver. As a result, the game was over...
12-yard catch on 3rd and 9 was negated when Linsley was ruled an ineligiblereceiverdownfield; on 3rd and 14, Herbert's end zone pass was intercepted by Patrick...
receiver ready. Some teams even do this from a field goal formation, having the ball snapped directly to the placekicker who punts the ball downfield...
downfield ahead of a screen pass, provided the pass is caught at or behind the line of scrimmage. Previously, this resulted in a five-yard ineligible...
administrative rules such as a formation without an end or ineligiblereceiversdownfield) Teams were allowed to have two quarterbacks on the field at...
so-called "halo rule". Penalties for offensive holding and ineligiblereceiverdownfield were 10 yards, instead of 15. Several years later, these became...
referred to as "eligible receivers" or "eligible ball carriers". The remaining players (known as "interior linemen") are "ineligible" to catch forward passes...
appeared to complete an 82-yard pass for a touchdown, but an ineligiblereceiverdownfield penalty negated the would-be go-ahead score. With two minutes...
considered a very long buttonhook, such as 15 yards or more downfield. Hence the receiver must dig their cleats in hard to stop and come back at the quarterback...
ball is lateraled back to the quarterback, who looks for an open receiverdownfield. As with all flea-flickers, the play is designed to trick the defensive...
for an ineligiblereceiver who touches a forward pass is 15 yards and a loss of down. The penalty for an ineligiblereceiver who is downfield prior to...
a play has been whistled dead. The side judge is positioned 20 yards downfield of the head linesman. The side judge mainly duplicates the functions of...
Non-standard/overbuilt facemasks are prohibited. A proposed rule to change the ineligibledownfield rule from three yards to one yard past the line of scrimmage was...
times for 114 yards during this Iron Bowl, continued marching his team downfield as he caught an 8-yard pass from quarterback Randy Campbell down to the...