LOS ANGELES — There was a mild stir among some NFL coaches and assistants Thursday morning when a report from popular website Pro Football Talk surfaced that the league had introduced language into the rulebook “aimed at ending” a type of motion that has popularly become known as “cheat.”
That motion is still legal, an NFL officiating crew and a head coach who is on the competition committee said.
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The portion of the NFL rulebook under scrutiny reads as such: “If an eligible receiver who is on the line of scrimmage moves backwardor changes his stance (two point to three point or conversely) and does not come to a complete stop before the snap, it is a false start.Any eligible backfield player who changes his stance does not have to come to a complete stop prior to the snap, as long as his actions are not abrupt (false start) or forward (illegal motion).”
The second sentence has always been the parameter within which “cheat” motion exists.
The motion, which started in Miami at the beginning of last season with super-fast receiver Tyreek Hill, features a player moving laterally outward from his receiving alignment before the ball is snapped (a truncated version of “jet” motion where the player runs all the way across the formation). The player then bursts upfield right at the snap. This short out motion buzzed across the league last season, and most teams installed some version of it into their offensive playbooks by the end of the year.
GO DEEPERHow one motion play swept through the NFL in 2023: 'Everybody is copying it'NFL motion rules have traditionally mandated that the player cannot move upfield before the ball is snapped, or it’s a penalty. Those rules have not changed. Teams are of the understanding that they can still run the short out motion within the existing rule.
“When we’ve talked about this at the league meetings and (with) the competition committee, it’s same-as,” said Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, whose team is hosting a full officiating crew at training camp this week. McVay (who frequently runs “cheat” and other types of motion) joined the NFL’s competition committee this offseason. He got questions about the play Thursday morning from some of his assistant coaches, but he said the adjusted point in the rulebook was about receiver stances. “There might be a nuance in the way that it is written in terms of a receiver going from a two-point (stance) to a three-point (stance). Unless we’re back to the ’60s, I have not seen that.
“As far as the ways the motions pre-snap will be officiated, it’ll be same-as.”
Using Tyreek Hill’s speed, the Miami Dolphins really took advantage of cheat motion last season. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)
While officials could now pay more attention to the popular play to make sure that rule is followed and that players aren’t moving forward too early in any motion, they are of the understanding that teams will still use the “cheat” motion. A league source said Saturday that crews have not been specifically directed to focus more on the play.
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“Nothing has changed with how we are going to officiate that,” he said. “If you start to move forward before the snap, then it’s gonna be an illegal motion. Nothing has changed.”
“The rule change that people are referencing is a wide receiver going from a two- to a three-point stance and the ball is snapped. Which really never happens, because why is a wide receiver in a three-point stance? But they just clarified that if he’s on the line that would be a false start. If he’s a step back, then it’s nothing — unless he’s moving forward, illegal motion. That’s what people are confusing. Or if it’s abrupt, then it’s a false start.”
In the Canadian Football League, skill players can go in motion upfield before the snap. “Cheat” motion did draw inspiration from the Canadian game, but it specifically has always been predicated on two things: the speed of the motion player, and on getting the correct timing between the motion player and quarterback so it can be executed without drawing a penalty.
“It’s timing it up. It’s not like Canadian rules (CFL) where you can motion toward the line of scrimmage,” McVay said, “but you want to be able to take advantage of changing the picture for the defense right before the snap. Those motions end up being a way that you can do that.”
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More updates and points of emphasis from the officiating crew in Los Angeles:
• One point of clarity about the new kickoff rule: The kicker can place the ball flat on the ground at whatever angle he chooses, as long as the kicking tee is not also on the field. Placing the ball flat on the ground offers kickers the possibility to change their “stroke,” similar to a golfer using different clubs.
“If they’re gonna put it on the ground, the tee has got to be off the field,” Hochuli said.
If the tee is used, Hochuli said, the pointed end of the ball has to be placed inside the tee cavity or it can be leaned against it, as long as the tee is right side up.
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• Hochuli said that because officiating crews expect to see more offensive concepts used by special teams coaches in the new kickoff, the crews will also space themselves on the field as if it is a run or pass play instead of a traditional kickoff. The kickoff could especially feature different types of run-game concepts like middle or outside zone.
“We’re expecting it to look a little more like a scrimmage play,” Hochuli said, “We’ve changed our own mechanics where the referee and the umpire are now behind the play. We are officiating, like (what you would think of) when you think of offensive holding or illegal blocks in the back around the perimeter, as we would a normal stretch (zone) play.”
• Hochuli said officials are looking for all three of these variables to be present when flagging a now-illegal hip-drop tackle: that the tackler grabs the runner with both hands, that he “unweights” himself by swiveling his hips (placing the weight on the runner) and the runner/ball carrier’s legs are pinned as the tackler drops that weight.
Required reading
- 2024 NFL kickoff rules could bring excitement … and chaos: ‘It’s going to be a s— show’
- Making sense of NFL’s new kickoff rule and what it means for next season
- NFL bans swivel hip-drop tackle at league owners’ meetings
(Photo: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
Jourdan Rodrigue is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Los Angeles Rams. Previously, she covered the Carolina Panthers for The Athletic and The Charlotte Observer, and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times. She is an ASU grad and a recipient of the PFWA's Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer award (2021). Follow Jourdan on X @JourdanRodrigue Follow Jourdan on Twitter @JourdanRodrigue
