Currently, it is possible for eliminated teams to increase their draft order by intentionally losing games at the end of the season. Managers are currently incentivized to start their worst players (soft tank), abandon their rosters (ghost ship), and/or bench their starters to incur massive penalties (hard tank).
I propose a three-round Anti-Tank Bowl where the worst teams are pitted against one another for their first round draft positions. In this consolation bracket, teams would play at least one meaningful playoff game against their nearest neighbor for a chance to improve their draft position. We would operate this bracket as a win-and-out “toilet bowl” with losers advancing to the next round.
Note: the outcome of this bracket would only affect the first round of the draft, not subsequent rounds.
Boy, this sounds terrible for the last-ranked team!
That it is, voice in my head! The purpose of the Anti-Tank Bowl is to incentivize managers to keep playing through the last few weeks of the regular season, after they’ve been eliminated from the playoffs. With the exception of #12, all participating teams would stand to gain a position in the draft order.
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
|---|---|---|
| #8 BYE | ||
| #8 v. #11 / #12 (Third Pick) | ||
| #11 v. #12 (First Pick) | ||
| Losers (Fifth Pick)* | ||
| #9 v. #10 (Second Pick) | ||
| #7 v. #9 / #10 (Fourth Pick) | ||
| #7 BYE |
*The team that doesn’t win any games in the tournament gets the sixth overall pick.
What about draft pick trading?
Trading first round picks gets slightly more dangerous. If you want a guaranteed position, wait until after the Anti-Tank Bowl.
Counterpoint: SomaDaydream. His team is awful and he’s got a first round bye. Whether or not your team is good seems to have no bearing on how many games you win.
Soft tanking is insidious and difficult to prove, and I actually don’t think there should be a punishment for doing it. I just want those first few picks to be less than automatic, and a tournament seems more fun than a lottery.