If the NFL wants to boost ratings for the Pro Bowl, they need to make it count for something.
NFL fans are serious. They will show up in sub-zero weather to root for a last-place team. But they won't bother to turn on the TV for an exhibition game that doesn't have any effect on the actual season.
The solution: Give the top draft picks to the conference that wins the Pro Bowl.
Won-Loss records would still be used to rank teams within each conference. But the Pro Bowl winner is guaranteed to get the #1 pick.
For example, this is the current draft order for the 2014 NFL draft:
Pick # | Team | Pick # | Team |
1 | Houston Texans (AFC) | 17 | Dallas Cowboys (NFC) |
2 | St. Louis Rams (NFC) | 18 | New York Jets (AFC) |
3 | Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC) | 19 | Miami Dolphins (AFC) |
4 | Cleveland Browns (NFC) | 20 | Arizona Cardinals (NFC) |
5 | Oakland Raiders (AFC) | 21 | Green Bay Packers (NFC) |
6 | Atlanta Falcons (NFC) | 22 | Philadelphia Eagles (NFC) |
7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC) | 23 | Kansas City Chiefs (AFC) |
8 | Minnesota Vikings (NFC) | 24 | Cincinnati Bengals (AFC) |
9 | Buffalo Bills (AFC) | 25 | San Diego Chargers (AFC) |
10 | Detroit Lions (NFC) | 26 | Indianapolis Colts (AFC) |
11 | Tennessee Titans (AFC) | 27 | New Orleans Saints (NFC) |
12 | New York Giants (NFC) | 28 | Carolina Panthers (NFC) |
13 | St. Louis Rams (NFC) | 29 | New England Patriots (AFC) |
14 | Chicago Bears (NFC) | 30 | San Francisco 49ers (NFC) |
15 | Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) | 31 | Denver Broncos (AFC) |
16 | Baltimore Ravens (AFC) | 32 | Seattle Seahawks (NFC) |
If this rule had been in place, and the AFC had won, this would be the resulting draft order:
Pick # | Team | Pick # | Team |
1 | Houston Texans (AFC) | 17 | St. Louis Rams (NFC) |
2 | Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC) | 18 | Atlanta Falcons (NFC) |
3 | Cleveland Browns (AFC) | 19 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC) |
4 | Oakland Raiders (AFC) | 20 | Minnesota Vikings (NFC) |
5 | Buffalo Bills (AFC) | 21 | Detroit Lions (NFC) |
6 | Tennessee Titans (AFC) | 22 | New York Giants (NFC) |
7 | Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) | 23 | St. Louis Rams (NFC) |
8 | Baltimore Ravens (AFC) | 24 | Chicago Bears (NFC) |
9 | New York Jets (AFC) | 25 | Dallas Cowboys (NFC) |
10 | Miami Dolphins (AFC) | 26 | Arizona Cardinals (NFC) |
11 | Kansas City Chiefs (AFC) | 27 | Green Bay Packers (NFC) |
12 | Cincinnati Bengals (AFC) | 28 | Philadelphia Eagles (NFC) |
13 | San Diego Chargers (AFC) | 29 | New Orleans Saints (NFC) |
14 | Indianapolis Colts (AFC) | 30 | Carolina Panthers (NFC) |
15 | New England Patriots (AFC) | 31 | San Francisco 49ers (NFC) |
16 | Denver Broncos (AFC) | 32 | Seattle Seahawks (NFC) |
And this would be the draft order if the NFC had won:
Pick # | Team | Pick # | Team |
1 | St. Louis Rams (NFC) | 17 | Houston Texans (AFC) |
2 | Atlanta Falcons (NFC) | 18 | Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC) |
3 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC) | 19 | Cleveland Browns (AFC) |
4 | Minnesota Vikings (NFC) | 20 | Oakland Raiders (AFC) |
5 | Detroit Lions (NFC) | 21 | Buffalo Bills (AFC) |
6 | New York Giants (NFC) | 22 | Tennessee Titans (AFC) |
7 | St. Louis Rams (NFC) | 23 | Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) |
8 | Chicago Bears (NFC) | 24 | Baltimore Ravens (AFC) |
9 | Dallas Cowboys (NFC) | 25 | New York Jets (AFC) |
10 | Arizona Cardinals (NFC) | 26 | Miami Dolphins (AFC) |
11 | Green Bay Packers (NFC) | 27 | Kansas City Chiefs (AFC) |
12 | Philadelphia Eagles (NFC) | 28 | Cincinnati Bengals (AFC) |
13 | New Orleans Saints (NFC) | 29 | San Diego Chargers (AFC) |
14 | Carolina Panthers (NFC) | 30 | Indianapolis Colts (AFC) |
15 | San Francisco 49ers (NFC) | 31 | New England Patriots (AFC) |
16 | Seattle Seahawks (NFC) | 32 | Denver Broncos (AFC) |
This has the additional advantage of eliminating worries about teams "tanking". There's no point in intentionally losing games to get the #1 pick if you might drop to pick #17 after the Pro Bowl.
But, unlike some other other anti-tanking ideas, this system continues to give better picks to weaker teams, to help create parity.
