But how many times have we been told to make them legal if they are spread out?
Indeed. We have been told lots of times and that makes sense.
A wideout who is yards away from the nearest interior lineman gains little advantage from being a few inches forward or backward and can genuinely struggle to tell whether he is on or off the line or somewhere in between even on a nicely marked field. No-one comes to watch me throw half a dozen 5 yarders every game for that kind of thing, so my supervisor tells me to make 'em legal if they are spread out.
But on this play, #23 is not spread out, he is right behind, indeed almost underneath, the O line, thus has every opportunity to ensure he is not in no-mans land. And he clearly gains an advantage from this illegal position.
I recall a senior Div 1 white hat telling me that on any trick play (which this is), the offense damn well better have everything absolutely perfect - players being inside the 9yd marks, the formation of the line, being set for second, etc, etc.
