Bump at the Line Survey

[Moxs - Patriots]

LEGAL AND ILLEGAL CONTACT WITH ELIGIBLE RECEIVERS
ARTICLE 1. LEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS

Within the area five yards beyond the line of scrimmage, a defensive player may chuck an eligible receiver in front of him. The defender is allowed to maintain continuous and unbroken contact within the five-yard zone, so long as the receiver has not moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

ARTICLE 2. ILLEGAL CONTACT WITHIN FIVE YARDS

Within the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender may not make original contact in the back of a receiver, nor may he maintain contact after the receiver has moved beyond a point that is even with the defender.

Note: If a defender contacts a receiver within the five-yard zone of the line of scrimmage, loses contact, and then contacts him again within the five-yard zone, it is a foul for illegal contact.

ARTICLE 3. ILLEGAL CONTACT BEYOND FIVE-YARD ZONE

Beyond the five-yard zone, if the player who receives the snap remains in the pocket with the ball, a defender cannot initiate contact with a receiver who is attempting to evade him. A defender may use his hands or arms only to defend or protect himself against impending contact caused by a receiver.

Note: If a defender contacts a receiver within the five-yard zone and maintains contact with him, he must release the receiver as they exit the five-yard zone. If the defender maintains contact beyond five yards, it is illegal contact.

ARTICLE 4. INCIDENTAL CONTACT BEYOND FIVE-YARD ZONE

Beyond the five-yard zone, incidental contact may exist between receiver and defender.

Penalty: For illegal contact by the defense: Loss of five yards and automatic first down.

[Moxs - Patriots]

As a former Defensive Back, I feel we should be as close to the rules above as possible. For DBs jamming and getting physical at the line is an essential part of the game. As a WR "getting off the line" is skill that is developed and when accomplished gets millions at contract time.

Lets make it so.

[Matt-Jacksonville]

The current rule is that a player designated to Bump must be within 10 yards of the LOS. I cannot remember why we picked 10 yards but my observation of NFL Bumps has such a defender within 5 yards of the LOS, which might be an NFL rule. Does anyone want to clarify or give an opinion?

I think 5 yards is appropriate and would like to limit that for new Custom plays. I would also like to start fixing existing plays if 5 yards is correct.

I think Moxs did a good job stating the NFL rule; however, I believe this was done due to issues with the game engine itself. Just because we can't remember why a rule was put in doesn't necessarily mean we need to change it. My gut tells me this was done for a reason as stated above a game limitation or AI buster of some kind was found and the rule prevents plays from taking advantage of that situation.

Unless someone can think of a good reason to change the rule outside of it's more realistic, I'd like to wait until someone can put some data together in game to see what the effect of changing it would be.