The Roar
The Roar

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Why tanking isn't such a bad idea

Who'll go number one in this year's NFL draft? (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Expert
16th December, 2014
17

A few years ago bad NFL teams were being urged by their fans to ‘suck for Luck’, the stand-out Stanford quarterback who wound up going No. 1 overall in 2012.

This year supporters of two and three win teams have suggested they should ‘suck for the Duck”.

That Duck being 2014 Heisman Trophy winner and Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.

We were barely into October when a group of Tennessee Titans’ fans began lobbying for the 2015 draft. Already frustrated by their team’s quarterback play, they started campaigning for the team to tank the rest of the season in order to draft early enough to select the talented Mariota.

For the record, tanking this season with that in mind may be a waste of time, with the quarterback undecided if he will declare for the draft or head back to Oregon for one more season.

To their credit the Titans players nixed any tanking talk as “ludicrous”.

Tanking is an ugly word – let’s call it ‘potentially beneficial losing’ or PBL.

But the possibility of PBL must be on their minds again as the Titans (2-12) prepare to play the Jaguars, another 2-12 team, in Jacksonville on Thursday Night Football, a game watched by few that will have a major influence on the selection order at the top of the 2015 draft.

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Both teams will no doubt be doing their best to win against a division rival in a nothing game, but the overwhelming consensus is that both the Titans and Jaguars would benefit much more in the long run from losing on Thursday night.

Win one game and likely be ordinary again next year or lose the game and maybe be good for the next 10 years. It seems like a no brainer, right? But tanking, sorry PBL, is a phenomenon that seemingly doesn’t exist in the NFL. It’s widely talked about in the NBA, where the Philadelphia 76ers have made it an art form in recent seasons, but bad NFL teams refuse to willingly lose.

However, morals, standards and things of that nature aside, there are a number of reasons tanking is advantageous for bad teams.

There is no draft lottery system, like there is in the NBA, and the worst team always owns the first overall pick.

The season is only 17 weeks long and its not as if a team has to play 80 something bad games and play every second night all over the country in order to eventually improve. The strength of the college football competition and the talent pool means top draft picks routinely join the league as impact players from day one.

While one basketball player can impact a team much quicker than a football player, American Football is structured so that the quarterback is considerably more important than any other position. You can finish 1-15 and then draft a good quarterback and a make the playoffs the next year.

There is no such thing as a sure thing – the Oakland Raiders are the best testament to that fact. But teams would still rather hold their fate in their own hands than hope a player falls to them.

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I’m not suggesting a team should deliberately lose right out of the gate or shoot for an imperfect season. But if it doesn’t work out through the first 12 games, what is the benefit of winning the last four? What is the difference between a team finishing 2-14 or 5-11? A better draft pick. That’s about it.

No one is going to remember the record, they will just recall the team being awful that year. And perhaps – if they are lucky – it will be the last time they are bad for a while. It’s certainly admirable that the Jets (3-11), Raiders (2-12), Titans (2-12), Jaguars (2-12), Buccaneers (2-12) and Redskins (3-13) are still trying to win.

But I think they should be racing for the bottom. It’s time for someone to step up and ‘suck for the Duck’. Come on, give these fans something to root for.

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