There is no question that teams in baseball and the NBA “tank” games in order to land the highest draft pick possible – the team with the worst record in MLB gets the No. 1 overall pick in the following year’s draft, while the NBA has tried to tamper “tanking” with a reconfigured draft lottery.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
It’s tough to “tank” in the NFL because there are only 16 regular-season games and careers are very short so the players are always giving their all to keep a roster spot/get a new contract. Even the best players in MLB or NBA take a few nights off both physically and mentally.
That said, the 2020 season might be a good time to “tank” for the NFL’s worst teams because there’s a huge prize waiting at the top of the 2021 draft: Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He would have gone No. 1 overall in this year’s draft if eligible and is considered the top quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are +350 favorites to finish with the most losses this year and thus get the top pick in the 2021 draft. The Jags, who finished 6-10 last year, might need a quarterback as the jury is still out on Gardner Minshew II. The 2019 sixth-round pick will be the team’s starter under center in 2020.
The Washington Redskins are next at +600 after finishing 3-13 last year. That earned the Redskins the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft and they took Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. The defense should be quite solid with his addition and under new coach Ron Rivera, a defensive guy, but the offense on paper looks to be one of the NFL’s worst in 2020.
Rivera’s former team, the Carolina Panthers, are +650. They finished 5-11 last year and Rivera was canned following Week 13’s embarrassing home loss to the Redskins. Baylor’s Matt Rhule is the new coach.
Last season, the Cincinnati Bengals won an NFL-low two games and took LSU quarterback Joe Burrow at No. 1 overall in the draft. The Bengals are +700 to finish with the most losses again, and they’d presumably trade the top pick in the 2021 draft for a haul of picks for a team desperate to take Lawrence. Unless, that is, Burrow is shockingly terrible this year.
The Detroit Lions and New York Giants are at +950 on this prop and the only other teams below +1000. The Miami Dolphins sit right at +1000.
