Ingridiron football, anineligible receiver downfield, or anineligible man downfield, is apenalty called against theoffensive team when aforward pass is thrown while a player who is ineligible to receive a pass is beyond theline 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, theeligible receivers include thequarterback,running backs,fullbacks,tight ends, andwide receivers, while the ineligible receivers areoffensive linemen, including thecenter,offensive guards, andoffensive tackles.[2][3]
The rule varies among leagues. Incollege football, theNCAA allows ineligible receivers to be a maximum of 3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage before the pass is thrown, whereas the NFL rule is 1 yard.[4][5] The penalty in both theNFL and NCAA is 5 yards.[1][6] The NCAA allows for an exception onscreen 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.