The New York Giants have selected in the top 10 eight times in the NFL draft since 2015. If they were in another major U.S. team sport, they would likely have been subject to a draft lottery.
The NFL does not have a draft lottery and probably shouldn’t as it has thrived on a parity model to maintain competitiveness. The NBA and NHL decided to go the lottery route to prevent teams from “tanking,” which is seen by many as an initiative that sacrifices the integrity of the game.
In a recent interview with Kay Adams of Up & Adams, Giants general manager Joe Schoen would not like to see the NFL adopt a draft lottery.
“I would not, I would not be in favor of that,” Schoen told Adams. “Specifically for the NFL and typically if you’re picking up there, what’s the most important position for a franchise?” posed Schoen. “So if you’re in that position you probably earned the right to get one of those players that can turn the luck around for the franchise for potentially 15 to 20 years.”
The Giants have been one of the NFL’s worst teams the past decade and who knows how much the lottery would have affected them.
In Schoen’s four NFL drafts with the Giants, he has picked in the top six three times. They would likely have had similar picks due to having favorable odds.
But anything can happen. We just saw the New York Islanders — the 11th seed in the NHL lottery — win the top pick in what is being seen as a small miracle. In the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks, who had less than a two-percent chance of being awarded the top pick, also pulled off the unexpected.