Should the NFL have a draft lottery?

I can see what you’re saying…but then I picture another Rex Grossman under center.

So let’s talk about 2 teams that have been pointed out as possibly tanking on purpose, and what happened next that makes me think they will never do that again.

2008 Lions - General Manager gets fired midseason. Head Coach gets fired after the season.

2011 Colts - General Manager, Head Coach and Team President all get fired after the season.

As a bonus the Browns admitted they were tanking. Their Head Coach and General Manager in charge of the tanking were fired.

Seems like a terrible idea unless you like fishing more than having a job in the NFL.

GM also changes, but the new GM was the right hand man of the last GM since he got here… Millen knew he was done for once they hit 0-4 and, thus, hatched the tank job so Mayhew could get a re-do of 2002 + 2003 in one draft year. Except instead of a flawed WR, Mayhew took a flawed TE.

One might also, upon closer inspection, see that the OL in 2011 was just about the same OL (but for one G) as we had in 2008. How is it that the OL can be so poor in 2008 but then beget 2011? They weren’t getting sabotaged by management in 2011.

Marinelli was an easy fall guy. He’d been there 3 years. Time to move on, especially after 2008. You can’t go 0-16 and keep your job. You’ll notice that Marinelli didn’t stay unemployed for long. 2 years later he’s a DC in Chicago. Then after that, Dallas. People knew…

I just dont see a problem with teams tanking in the NFL, ergo, i dont see a need for a lottery. I think the NFL brain trust thinks they need continual change, if only for change’s sake.

From Harvard Business Review:

No one disputes that firms have to make organizational changes when the business environment demands them. But the idea that a firm might want change for its own sake often provokes skepticism.

One random observation. Packers don’t lose to us 31-0 if they are actually trying.

How is that not a tank job? As small as it is, one game, it still gave them a better draft pick than if they’d won.

The offensive line wasn’t “good” in either 2008 or 2011.

They played more of their starters for longer than we did.

Well, in 2011 the offense scored more points than any other offense in Lions history (474. I find it very hard to believe they did this with a “not good” OL.

And?

They played DeShone Kizer. Rodgers threw 3 complete passes then bailed.

Most of their “starters” weren’t the “starters” at the beginning of the season.

Their starters were their starters. Rodgers left after we jumped up 14-0 in the 2nd quarter. It was clear to anybody watching that it wasn’t the Packers day.

Im sure it happens from time to time, but I just dont see a wide spread problem that can be identified with any certainty. Its more like “I know your doing it but i cant prove it” situation. If it could be proven that a specific team tanked in order to improve their draft position, that team could be made an example of by stripping them of their first and second round draft picks for the next three seasons.

A lottery, IMO, has the potential of punishing teams that have played by the rules, but get screwed out of a higher draft spot simply because of the luck of the draw.

Is it fair that a team that finishes say, fifth in won/loss record, should have the chance to leap frog four other teams and draft the best player in the draft when, in essence, they didnt deserve/earn it?

Totally agree.

Half ass, heart’s not in it is the same effect as deliberate tanking, to me.

I’m probably with you that I oppose a lottery. It makes less of a difference in this sport, anyway.

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