Excuse my ignorance, but what’s up with this? I don’t recall seeing it before last weekend. Half a second before the snap, an offensive lineman rapidly points forward.
Two questions:
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Is there an exception under the false start rules that makes this OK?
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Why are they doing it? To try to make the defense jump?
The pointing is the center declaring the Mike or making the calls for the protection. In most cases it’s the center making the line calls and the QB declaring the Mike. Last second adjustments need to be made because defenses will disguise blitz and coverages.
It could also be a cue for the snap during a silent count. It could be the guard tapping the center, the qb lifting his leg and it could be a hand signal. There are so many ways to do this and it could vary from week to week.