During the AFC playoffs, the Patriots found success when they used formations featuring normally eligible receivers reporting as ineligible and normally ineligible players doing the opposite.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh wasn’t thrilled with New England’s use of what he called a “substitution type of a trick type of a thing” and said that he thought the league would be looking at it in the offseason. Harbaugh’s chief complaint was that the defense didn’t get a chance to ID the eligible players before the snap, something that might be easier if a proposed rule change is enacted.
The NFL Competition Committee released a list of changes proposed by individual teams and the committee itself on Wednesday. One of the latter proposals is one that would require players reporting into the game as ineligible receivers to line up inside the tackle box. A failure to do so would result in the five-yard illegal substitution penalty that teams currently face for not notifying officials of a change in their status.
Changes proposed by the committee tend to find more support in voting that team-generated proposals, so this change stands a good chance of being implemented for next season.