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The NFL’s current draft system clearly incentivizes tanking

Posted on 02/03/2022 9:16:05 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET

The NFL’s procedure for determining draft order creates a clear incentive to tank. Usually, it kicks in once a team is eliminated from playoff contention, mathematically or as a practical matter. It happened most conspicuously in 2014, when the Buccaneers removed roughly half of their starters at halftime of a Week 17 game against the Saints, which Tampa Bay led by double digits. The Saints came back and won, the Buccaneers lost, and the Bucs secured dibs on the first pick in the 2015 draft. (They took Jameis Winston; some would say the punishment ultimately fit the crime.)


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Will somebody please post the PROFOOTBALLTALK link?

The solution to this problem wasn't mentioned. Do a lottery of the top 5 draft picks. NBA did it. The NFL has to wait for the SHTF moment-preventable. How many sports meet yearly to change the game? (competition committee)

Now Steven Flores gets to run with the issue. Combine his race with the Super Bowl coming up you get another left manufactured-run-with-it distraction. Think kneeling. Spotify. Getting good my friends. Think Covid.

1 posted on 02/03/2022 9:16:05 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET
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To: DIRTYSECRET

The fact that crappy teams have an incentive to finish last, to get a draft pick, has been obvious for fifty years or more. Particularly if the two worst teams meet in the last game of the seasons. More than forty years ago I remember such a match up occurred, or was close to occurring, and was referred to as the “Loser Bowl.”


2 posted on 02/03/2022 9:18:49 AM PST by Flash Bazbeaux
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To: DIRTYSECRET

FU NFL...pack your little bags and GTFO of this country. Go move to Red China, traitors!


3 posted on 02/03/2022 9:24:48 AM PST by WKUHilltopper
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To: DIRTYSECRET

The biggest incentive for a team, is winning, because, without the stadium fans and the TV audience, they lose money and the incentive by other players (good or bad) to join them.

Besides, getting a first-round pick does not guarantee that those picked will result in winning games, like first-round pick Jame Winston ended up being a dud, or Tom Brady (sixth round) ended up being the best quarterback in history.

Getting the best players is not always through the draft, and getting the best players can be the result of winning.


4 posted on 02/03/2022 9:27:42 AM PST by adorno
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To: DIRTYSECRET
There are other incentives to "tank" (indirectly), too.

If it's late in the season and a top team has already secured home field advantage through the playoffs, then it has every reason in the world to rest its starters through the end of the regular season.

5 posted on 02/03/2022 9:29:02 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("Mr. Potato Head ... Mr. Potato Head! Back doors are not secrets.")
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To: adorno

I say go Pro/Reg, like soccer, if you suck, you get relegated.


6 posted on 02/03/2022 9:30:34 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Flash Bazbeaux

I remember when the Colts were awful and fired their coach with one game left in the season. They immediately hired Ron Meyer as their coach. If they lost the last game they would get the first pick in the draft and that’s what everyone expected him to do. Ron said “forget that, I came here to win”. He won that last game and all the fans respected that attitude - nobody held it against him.


7 posted on 02/03/2022 9:30:39 AM PST by circlecity
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To: Alberta's Child

I will say this, the Lions easily could have just let Green Bay win that last game, and secure the top draft pick, but they went for the win, and Jacksonville ended up with it.

It’s a pretty weak draft anyway.


8 posted on 02/03/2022 9:32:36 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Flash Bazbeaux
The fact that crappy teams have an incentive to finish last, to get a draft pick, has been obvious for fifty years or more.

That's a loser's game. The Detroit Lions and New York Jets can get top picks every year, but won't get elevated by that alone.

The Patriots haven't landed in the top 12 picks for decades and still manage to field a playoff level team consistently.

The Rams wasted two #1 overall picks for Sam Bradford and Jared Goff. Once the environment turned into a winning one, they were able to reclaim a talented #1 pick Stafford from the hapless Lions and retirn to the Super Bowl. The best Rams quarterback of the Superbowl era remains undrafted Kurt Warner. Tom Brady stuck around until Round 6, Joe Montana Round 3, Patrick Mahomes well past Mitch Trubisky. Aaron Rogers and Steve Young were gotten cheap from teams that didn't know what they had.

Put you resources in great GMs, great coaching, and great scouting, and you din't have to worry about your place in the draft.
9 posted on 02/03/2022 9:33:04 AM PST by Dr. Sivana ( “to defend themselves, they are using the same weapons with which they were struck.”Pope St. Pius X)
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To: circlecity

Ditto for Dan Campbell and the Lions this year.


10 posted on 02/03/2022 9:33:09 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/938739/posts


11 posted on 02/03/2022 9:33:13 AM PST by TexasGator (UF)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

LOL I think it should be the opposite. Finish first, pick first.


12 posted on 02/03/2022 9:33:21 AM PST by Nifty
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To: Dr. Sivana

If I were a GM, my first hire would be the offensive line coach.

If you have a guy that can mold any rag-tag bunch of guys into a solid offensive line, you can have a contender pretty quickly.


13 posted on 02/03/2022 9:34:22 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Nifty

I always wonder if someday they will say the draft is illegal and players should be able to sign with whomever they want, straight out of college.


14 posted on 02/03/2022 9:38:40 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: adorno

+1


15 posted on 02/03/2022 9:40:05 AM PST by MotorCityBuck ( Keep the change, you filthy animal! ,)
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To: circlecity

“You PLAY to win the game.” Somebody said that.

There’s more: Is Steven Flores one of the best 32 head coaches in the NFL? Probably not. It’s the same charge brought up as to why Kapernick didn’t have a job. Colin may have been one of the to 64 in the league thereby guaranteeing him a job but he did it his way. Question his motives. Did he really want to play? Flores would rather make a statement than be an assistant. Money isn’t an issue. Kay and Flores have plenty and don’t need football.

So what’s the answer? Be more forthright in dealing with everyone. Especially blacks who can turn on their ‘masters’ more easily.


16 posted on 02/03/2022 9:40:39 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET
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To: dfwgator
Under normal circumstances a draft like that would be considered highly illegal as a restraint of commerce. Can you imagine if the legal profession (for example) conspired to draft law school graduates the same way the NFL drafts players? LOL.

Drafts are allowed in professional sports leagues because the legal prohibitions are overridden by collective bargaining agreements.

17 posted on 02/03/2022 9:52:05 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("Mr. Potato Head ... Mr. Potato Head! Back doors are not secrets.")
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To: Nifty
LOL I think it should be the opposite. Finish first, pick first.

and rugby rules for scoring: Scoring team receives on the following kickoff.

18 posted on 02/03/2022 9:52:18 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: DIRTYSECRET

You mean Brian Flores? He definitely was one the better ones. Miami outperformed expectations. I was surprised he was fired. If it was based on what happened on the field, it was stupid. I don’t know what other factors there could have been.


19 posted on 02/03/2022 9:52:48 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Flores is doing a great job of making owners afraid of hiring black coaches. If an assistant doesn’t get a promotion, or an applicant is not chosen over a white applicant, off to court.


20 posted on 02/03/2022 10:00:46 AM PST by Dr. Sivana ( “to defend themselves, they are using the same weapons with which they were struck.”Pope St. Pius X)
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