The rules committee needs to take one more step with the Scrimmage Kick Formation (SKF).
The committee has taken steps to make it more difficult for Team A to confuse Team B as to which of their players are eligible. The SKF still requires an unnecessarily difficult judgment to be made by officials, and that is, “…it must be obvious that a scrimmage kick will be attempted.” Historically, teams have tried to disguise player eligibility with a wide variety of formations, which has resulted in the rules we have today, including the 2026 change related to numbering exceptions that are allowed if Team A is in a SKF. But, we still have to make that judgment about the “obvious” probability of an attempted scrimmage kick, based upon the down/distance, time, score, field position, AND the formation.
The 2026 rule change helps significantly with that judgment when Team A uses numbering exceptions, by requiring at least two linemen on each side of the snapper (“2X2” sub-formation), forcing a formation that makes the probability of a scrimmage kick much more obvious. However, a SKF applies whether, or not, Team A uses numbering exceptions. So, even in the absence of the “2X2” sub-formation required with numbering exceptions, we still have to make the “obvious” judgment about the probability of an attempted scrimmage kick. That leaves the door wider open for Team A to attempt to conceal eligible players with odd-ball formations that require us to make a very difficult judgment about the “obvious” probability of an attempted scrimmage kick.
The committee could virtually close that door, to improve the integrity of the game, and make our job much easier, if they would require a “2X2” sub-formation with ALL SKFs, with all of the position change/shift restrictions for the linemen within the “2X2”.
I think that would do it.
The reason this is needed is because the SKF is needed for more than just the option to use numbering exceptions. It also triggers the snapper protection (6-3-14-a and 9-1-14), and the illegal “3 on 1” blocking (6-3-14-b). Those also require a SKF, and Team A needs to make the formation clear, if they want those protections.
