Are you saying that, under the “old” rule, you could never call IG if there was a receiver in the area? Because I’ve seen plenty of times that it’s been called — QB throws it into the tenth row of seats, or spikes it into the ground five yards short of the receiver while being tackled, just to name a couple.
The "Old Rule" remains in effect.
The "New rule" should be considered as quite simply the only legal method for the Passer to terminate the play.
Should the passer fail to meet both requirements of the New Rule, then the Old rule remains in effect.
Remember, if the passer has
NOT met both requirements
EXCEPTION 2, it remains a foul if there was no
eligible receiver in the area, or, if a receiver in the area cannot make a bona fide attempt to catch the forward
pass (e.g., the pass is intentionally thrown to the ground short of an eligible receiver, or the pass is
intentionally thrown over an eligible receiver’s head).
I hope that makes sense?