Draft Order Coin Toss

[Andy Freeland]

The final 12 spots in the draft go to playoff teams in reverse order of finish, then teams are ranked by record. After that:

ties shall be broken by strength-of-schedule. If any ties cannot be broken by strength-of-schedule, the divisional or conference tie-breakers, if applicable, shall be applied. Any ties that still exist shall be broken by a coin flip.

Divisional and conference tie-breakers are sufficient to ensure that there are no ties within a conference, but if the 2 teams in question are from different conferences, then we have a problem. There is only 1 tie-breaker in that situation, strength of schedule. This year there were 2 different ties between inter-conference teams that required a coin flip (Dolphins/Panthers for 8/9, Dolphins won. Chiefs/Seahawks for 11/12, Chiefs won).

This has happened with no controversy, the NFL even made special coins to avoid a Bettis-like scenario. But that's because the picks were all in the 8-12 range. Can the NFL really be so blissfully unaware of the fact that if this system is left unchanged we will eventually have a coin toss for the #1 overall pick? If and when that occurs there will be lots of negative publicity pointing out the league's lack of foresight. The league will then promise that it will never happen again and change the rules. Why not change them now and stop it from happening the first time? Why not just apply the conference tie-breakers league wide? It's not a perfect solution, those tie-breakers were specifically designed for in-conference use, but it's better than a coin toss.

[darvon]

Can the NFL really be so blissfully unaware of the fact that if this system is left unchanged we will eventually have a coin toss for the #1 overall pick?

That is NOT the question that you SHOULD be asking. The question you should be asking is that have YOU and NBCSports tied up the television rights to the coin toss????

Why didn't YOU SHOW it Last Night in Prime Time????

Shame on you Andy. shame..shame...

[Trumpetbdw]

Darvon brings up an excellent point. Televising the coin toss is like the NBA Draft Lottery, except way less interesting. But if they went to Kinkos and threw some colorful team logos on posterboard and threw it into a hopper, still not that interesting.

Then again, Point Break was on NBCSports last night. It's not like the rating were all that great to begin with. And attaching "NFL" to the title should have been good for at least a few hundred thousand viewers. Then we'd be debating how an NFL Coin Toss program out-rated the championships of the Baseball IQ trivia game on MLB Network. Answer? Because the toss of a coin is a lot simpler than figuring out "name the top 14 players with 750 or more SS innings in 2011 to lead the league in FRAA."

By the way, if you guessed that Brendan Ryan and Clint Barmes rated #1 and #2 respectively in Fielding Runs Above Average, then you'd be correct.

[Dave Lapham]

I agree something so important to franchises is decided by a coin flip rings hollow. The simplest solution would be make the tie-breakers valid league wide like you said Andy. How about having the opposing GMs in a wrist wrestling competition? Winner gets the better pick. Great TV. Or maybe have them bench press 225# to failure. Most reps completed with proper form gets the pick. Throw in a 40 yard dash. Almost like a mini combine competition amongst the GMs for the best pick in tie breaker situations. A Senior Olympics of sorts for draft picks to improve the franchise.

[darvon]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce the new GM of the Detroit Lions, Usain Bolt.

[darvon]

Andy,

You nailed down the broadcast rights to the coin toss yet??? Get going, son.

Don't make me call Ebersol.

[packa7x]

Steel-cage death match, winner gets the better pick.

[Nancy]

And the Carolina Panthers kick off the festive draft season by losing their coin toss to the Dolphins. Dang, it's still February and they're already 0-1. Rumblings about drafting Janoris Jenkins--which might necessitate the signing of Jerome Simpson just for the sake of convenience