Its time for the NFL to adopt a draft lottery. The current system rewards teams for poor performance, and punishes teams who try hard but still struggle.
Lets look at what transpired today as an example. The NFL had a problem on its hands with three teams tied for the #3 selection in the upcoming draft. The Falcons, Raiders, and Chiefs each finished at 4-12 and their opponents had an identical record, the first tiebreaker.
The NFL has a policy of handling this situation via a coinflip. The Falcons won, and will receive the #3 pick, the Raiders will get selection #4, and the Chiefs will get #5. While its easy to argue that this system treats teams with identical records equally, it hardly seems fair to me.
The Falcons were clearly the worst team of the bunch. There is no debating that fact. The team needs players at every major position, and they simply do not show any signs of improving much next season. I have on complaints about giving them the third pick in the draft. The team tried its best to compete this season, they just lacked the talent.
The Raiders hardly deserve the #4 spot. Yes, they suck. But its not because of lack of talent. The Raiders suck right now because they CHOOSE to play poorly. Lack of dedication, lack of commitment, lack of effort, and lack of support from coaches and management are what led to another dismal season in Oakland. They should not be rewarded with the #4 pick in the draft.
The Chiefs are a much better team than the Raiders right now, they just got a few bad breaks during the season. They could have easily won a couple more games, which would have lowered their draft position to about where it is now. But at least they tried to win. They never gave up, which is what football is all about. They should not be punished for trying and failing, just as the Raiders should not be rewarded for failing to try.
A draft lottery would solve this problem. Yeah, every year some team might get unlucky and end up with a lower draft slot than they deserve. But at least we would not be guaranteeing a victory via failure. The Miami Dolphins could have simply forfeited all of its road games and they still would have the same draft position right now. A lottery would have compelled them to try a bit harder after week 8.
The NBA has had a draft lottery for a while and its worked out pretty well. True, the team with the worst record rarely gets the #1 pick in the NBA draft, but that seems fair to me. A high draft pick is needed to rebuild a team and make them competitive again, but an automatic #1 pick is an incentive to lose.
The NBA has a draft lottery. The NHL used it after the lockout. Even the WWE has a draft lottery (yeah, I know its not legit... but I am making a point here.) Its time for the NFL to protect the competitive nature of the league and ensure 100% performance from its teams and players at all times.
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2 comments:
Are you insane? How can you say the Chiefs are a better team than the Raiders? The Chiefs lose games because they dont have any recievers, not because of 'a few bad breaks.' The Raiders will be a much better team next season, now that the Culpepper experiment is over and Jamarcus Russell will start every game.
The key words in your statement are " The Raiders will be a much better team next season".
A) I am clearly referring to the present, not the future
B) Its clear the Russel is not the answer
C) The Raiders problems start at the top, with Al Davis. Until that changes, there will be no return to the glory days for Raider nation.
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