Speed motion, which has been referred to as “cheat motion” by San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, has been used by the high-flying Miami Dolphins offense since Mike McDaniel took over as head coach in 2022. They might not get away with it in 2024, though.
As noticed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, a sentence has been added to the NFL rulebook to highlight and clarify that it’s illegal for a backfield player to be moving forward at the snap.
“Any eligible backfield player who changes his stance does not have to come to a complete stop prior to the snap, as long as his actions are not abrupt (false start) or forward (illegal motion),” Rule 7, Section 4, Article 2, Item 4 in the league’s official rulebook now reads.
It isn’t exactly a rule change, per se, as forward motion at the snap has always been illegal. But previous iterations of the rulebook didn’t explicitly highlight the subtle tactic that became a trend in the 2023 season.
Here’s what it looked like in action for the Dolphins:
TUA TO TYREEK AGAIN. 60-YARD TD.
📺: #MIAvsWAS on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/xvCjbLUIcN pic.twitter.com/IK98vuCTEI— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2023
Tyreek Hill's pre-snap motion gave him a running start on his 60-yard TD reception.
Hill was traveling 10.92 mph when the ball was snapped & 19.19 mph when the pass was released (only player over 14 mph).
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— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 3, 2023
Again, the tactic was already technically illegal prior to the NFL’s clarification in the 2024 rulebook. Both last year and this year, Rule 7, Section 4, Article 8 has a sentence that reads “No player is permitted to be moving toward the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.”
But the league’s decision to further highlight that distinction could be evidence that officials have been instructed to keep a closer eye on the direction Hill is moving when the ball is snapped.
