Pick Routes and Rub Routes: When NFL Traffic Becomes OPI

Aug 19

2 min read

Updated: 47 minutes ago

A pick or rub concept uses nearby receiver paths to create traffic for defenders. The design is not automatically illegal. The NFL judges the actual contact under its blocking and pass interference rules, not the nickname assigned to the play.

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The design is legal when both receivers run genuine routes and any collision is incidental, unavoidable, or initiated by the defender. It becomes offensive pass interference when an offensive player deliberately blocks or significantly hinders a defender more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage

Two receivers can cross while genuinely running routes. A receiver who instead blocks or significantly restricts a defender downfield can commit offensive pass interference, even if the ball is thrown to his teammate.

The rule is more than intent

Under the NFL pass interference rule, the relevant restriction applies beyond one yard from the line of scrimmage when a forward pass is thrown from behind the line. The pass can be legal or illegal and need not cross the line. Offensive restrictions begin at the snap and continue until the pass is touched. The penalty is 10 yards from the previous spot.

Offensive pass interference includes prohibited downfield blocking and other acts that materially restrict a defender's opportunity. Officials consider the route, contact, timing and ball. A receiver looking back for a pass does not automatically make his block legal.

Contact at or within one yard is not pass interference by that distance test, but holding and other blocking restrictions can still apply. A receiver gets no blanket permission to grab a defender near the line.

What legal traffic looks like

On Mesh, two shallow crossers pass close together. A trailing defender may need to change his path or avoid another defender. If the receivers keep their routes and do not initiate prohibited interference, that traffic can be legal.

Now change the action: one receiver turns into the pursuing defender several yards downfield and blocks him so the other crosser escapes. When the relevant pass conditions are met, that is the kind of action that can draw OPI.

How defenses counter it

Defenders can switch assignments, play with enough cushion to see the releases or use zone and matching rules. Those answers require communication. A successful switch can prevent the collision but leave a different matchup for the quarterback to test.

On replay, watch the receiver away from the ball. Identify where contact happened and whether the route became a block. A defender falling down does not prove a foul; a receiver claiming he was running a route does not settle it either.