Very good! I may be wrong about this, but I believe NFL rules now prohibit any kind of trick plays involving offensive players running on and off the field before the snap.
One of the problems with some trick plays is that the offense runs the risk of fooling even the officials -- sometimes with bizarre results. Former Bengals QB Boomer Esiason was one of the best I've ever seen at executing a play-fake to one of his running backs. I mean, that guy would often fool TV camera crews, he was so good. There was one play back in the late 1980s where did such a great job at "selling" the play-fake that the officials whistled the play dead after the would-be ball carrier was tackled. Under NFL rules there was no way to undo the result of the play -- so that running back was credited with a two-yard gain even though he never touched the ball!
The rule wouldnt surprise me, especially seeing how intricate NFL off and def packages are. I imagine there is some lobbying because def coordinators tend to package their def based on personnel.
Id love to see the play get called dead and hear the ref. I usually dont like to see people screw up, but some of the ref’s give entertaining explanations. There was one this season (I think preseason) where on a KO, 2 cover guys and 1 return guy all had penalties. And it was number 57, 95, and 97. It took the ref about 5 minutes to get it right, because they all had similar numbers, and there is hardly ever a 3 penalty play. But he had the biggest grin n his face knowing that this was happening on tv. He was a good sport.
My favorite is when a ref threw an unsportsmanlike and said “15 yd penalty - Giving him the Business”
Its also illegal in many youth leagues for anyone on the sideline ( coach, players etc ) to be part of any trickery. With the coach yelling that there was a penalty this play would have been illegal in many youth leagues.