Maybe one of the finer points of the game, I’ve been watching since the late 80’s and I’m not sure if I’m correct here.

I noticed in the last game the PA announcer was saying that the bills had reported #76 as elegible.

So #76 is David Edwards who is a Guard.

Do the bills just report him as an elegible receiver to avoid an illegal man downfield penalty in case josh scrambles or extends the play?

I see a lot of illegal man downfield calls though the league especially this year. What is the competitive advantage in a lineman being a yard downfield? Is it that they could catch a pass?

Is the team only allowed to report one lineman per play as elegible to receive a pass?

Why wouldn’t the team just report every lineman as elegible to avoid the lineman downfield penalty?

I watch all the games, and I see a lot of big offensive gains taken back due to a lineman being two yards or a yard downfield, but I’m not sure why that really matters.