Tanking 101 or, what makes getting the first pick difficult.

The worse a team does, the better players they will get in each round (in theory). So, the owner, GM and even coaches can do things to make things go that way. I recall Culley calling for a punt from midfield on 3rd down in the first half–early in the season. That is tanking and I think he toned it down later.

There is another group during an attempt to tank, the players, who are impacted by better quality draftees and threatened even more by higher quality replacements. So, the players want to win as individuals, partly for their career lasting and partly to keep someone from stealing their job. For example, if you are David Mills and you hear all the Bryce Young talk. you probably do the absolute best you can.

This group also were highly successful football players to even GET into the NFL. Highly successful people get there by winning and not losing individual battles on the field. These are people who hate losing and are going to try their hardest to win, in general.

Finally, the league got proof of tanking comments by the Dolphins and they took away their no. 1 pick. Imagine if Miami had finished with the worst record, only to watch other team pick them. The league is watching for that, making it harder for the Texans to double tank.