How far back does a rusher have to start in 5v5 flag football?
In 5v5 flag football a rusher almost always has to start seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, though a minority of leagues use five and some ask the defense to declare a rusher instead of measuring at all. The number matters more than it sounds: seven yards takes a young player about a second and a half to cover once you include reacting to the snap, and a quick throw is gone in about one and a quarter, so against a team that throws fast the rusher arrives after the ball has left.
7 yards is further than it sounds. A young player covers it in around a second and a half once you include reacting to the snap. A quick throw to somebody standing three yards away is gone in about one and a quarter, so against that offense the rusher arrives after the ball has left.
When rushing is the right call in 5v5
Seven yards is one fifth of your defense, spent before anybody moves
You have five defenders. The one standing on that mark is not covering a receiver, so the four who are left are matched one for one against four eligible players with nobody spare. In no other format does the rush line cost you so large a share of the team, and that is why the 5v5 version of this decision is the harshest one on the site.
Your quarterback rule makes the line worth paying more often
In plain 5v5 the quarterback may cross the line and run. An unrushed quarterback with permission to run will find that out and take five yards a down, so the seven-yard tax buys you something real here that it does not buy under NFL Flag rules, where he is forbidden from crossing at all.
Where the line actually is, is your job to find out
Some leagues drop a cone, some have the official count, and some never measure. Read your own rulebook before the first game, because a rusher who leaves early is usually an automatic first down and it is the cheapest penalty in the sport to give away.
It exists so the quarterback gets a chance to throw at all
Without a rush line a defender could stand over the ball and end every play before it started, which would make flag football unwatchable and unplayable. The line is the sport's way of buying the offense about a second and a half, and knowing that is what tells you when rushing is worth it and when it is arithmetic you cannot win.
It is marked differently in every league, and that is your problem
Some leagues put a cone on it, some have an official stand there and count, and some ask the defense to declare a rusher before the snap and never measure anything. Find out which one yours does before your first game rather than during it, because the penalty for getting it wrong is usually an automatic first down.
Crossing early is the cheapest penalty in the sport to give away
It costs yards and a down, it happens because a child was excited, and it is entirely preventable by practising the start. Line a player up on the mark, snap the ball, and let him leave. Ten repetitions a week is the whole coaching intervention and most teams never do one.
What the extra defender is worth
The same 5 players, arranged for the two answers. What changes is not aggression, it is how much help is left behind them.
- Rush nobody5 v 45v5: no rusher, 4 defenders matched on 4 receivers and 1 spare in the middle.
Everybody is covered and one defender is left over. He stands where the routes cross and takes away most of a youth playbook on his own.
This is the player you are trading. He has nobody to cover, which is exactly what makes him useful: he can double their best receiver, sit on the crossers, or wait for the quarterback. Send a rusher and he stops existing.
- Rush one4 v 45v5: one rusher and 4 defenders on 4 receivers.
Even. Every defender is on an island, any receiver who wins is uncovered to the end zone, and crossing routes work because there is nobody to switch onto.
Three ways to spend the seven yards, and what each one costs
Send him on every down
Where it excelsSimple, and it stops a running quarterback from walking forward unopposed. Your players always know who is going, which at this age removes an argument on the line before every snap.
Exposed · the flatAgainst a quick-game team he never arrives, and you have spent a defender for nothing on every snap of the game. Four on four with no help means any receiver who wins is uncovered to the end zone.
Send him only on long yardage
Where it excelsThe throw has to travel, so the seven yards are finally affordable. You keep your spare defender on every other down and the offense never gets used to the pressure.
Exposed · deepIt is completely predictable. A coach who notices you only rush on third and long will draw up one screen for exactly that down, and your defense will be a man short behind it.
Stand him on the mark and do not send him
Where it excelsHe starts seven yards deep, watches, and comes only if the quarterback tucks it. You have taken away the run without conceding the quick throw, which is the trade the mark was going to cost you.
Exposed · the middle underneathNobody is ever hurrying the throw, so a patient quarterback gets as long as he wants. Against an offense with real route running that eventually finds somebody, and slowly rather than suddenly.
Stand him on the mark and let the quarterback decide
Count to two after the snap for one series. If the ball is gone before you finish, sending him is arithmetic you cannot win, so keep him home and let the quarterback's own legs tell you when to come. The seven yards are a price, and the only downs worth paying it are the ones where the offense has already agreed to hold the ball.
The numbers behind the decision
They snap it the moment your rusher is set
A tempo offense is trying to catch your rusher still walking to the mark, which at best costs you a penalty and at worst leaves four defenders covering four receivers while the fifth jogs. Have him line up on the mark first, every time, before anybody else gets set.
Your league marks it at five
Then everything on this page gets cheaper and the maths changes with it. Five yards is comfortably inside the time a young quarterback takes to throw, and rushing becomes the default rather than the exception. Check first, because this is the single number that decides how your defense plays.
Your league asks you to declare instead of measuring
Some rulebooks skip the distance and simply require the defense to name a rusher before the snap. That is a better deal for you: declare a player, let him start wherever he likes, and the offense still has to account for him.
When not to rush
When you are rushing because the line is there
The existence of a rush line is not a reason to use it. Plenty of good defenses never send anybody, and treating the mark as an obligation is how a defense ends up a player short in coverage on every single down of a game.
When your rusher is your best cover player
The seven yards are a tax on whoever pays them, and you should pay it with a defender you can spare. Sending the one player who can stay with their best receiver is spending your most valuable asset on the least likely outcome.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the free play designer, collect them in the football playbook maker, and print play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Draw it for your own team
Open the designer at 5v5, put your defenders where this page says, and print it so everybody shows up on Saturday knowing the same thing.
Open the free play designerRelated questions
How far back does a rusher have to start in 5v5 flag football?
Why is there a rush line in flag football?
Can the rusher start anywhere along the seven-yard line?
Is it worth rushing from seven yards in 5v5?
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Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.