Team Capsules: Ecuador Ewoks

In a 12-part series, we take a look at each MFFL team, where they’ve been and where they’re going. We analyze the strength of their current roster build, what areas need improvement, and speculate what they might do in the coming months.

A look back

A single, monetary decision in the 2019 Auction set forth a season of pain for the Ecuador Ewoks. In that period, Nagasaki tendered an offer of $26 million to running back David Johnson, setting up a difficult decision for Ecuador. After a few agonizing minutes of internal debate, Ecuador ultimately decided to exercise its NFT rights and they retained the star back by matching the offer. It would set up the Ewoks with limited funds with which to fill out their roster. Had Johnson had the kind of season he has produced in the past, the Ewoks might have garnered a few more wins. But Johnson’s descent from star player to irrelevant backup in the span of a half-season caused a snowball — no, an avalanche of misfortune.

A look ahead

The Ewoks not only missed the playoffs in 2019, but they don’t have a high first-round draft pick to show for it, having traded their 2020 first-round pick in a deal to acquire Johnson’s rights in the first place. The Ewoks also had to eat an $11.25 million cap hit when releasing Johnson this offseason, negating 15% of their 2020 budget. Ecuador has their work cut out for them trying to rebuild their squad. Having placed the EFT tag on UFA running back Ezekiel Elliott for $14.50 million, the Ewoks have effectively used up one-third of their 2020 budget on Elliott’s salary and Johnson’s cap hit. The Ewoks are going to have to get an infusion of young talent and/or players on cheap contracts to right the ship. The Ewoks have but two third-round picks in this year’s draft, so the rebuilding will have to come through the later stages of the Auction.

Quarterback analysis

Ecuador presently has no quarterbacks under contract on their Active Roster. The Ewoks drafted Drew Lock with the 30th pick in the 2019 MFFL Draft, and the young prospect currently sits in the team’s Rookie Corral. The team might choose to promote him this season as they look to keep down cost. Mitch Trubisky is a restricted free agent and doesn’t appear to be in a position to get a lot of action on the open market, thus, they might be able to retain him on a league minimum contract as a cost-effective second option. Of the number of holes they need to fill, quarterback can — and should — be done cheaply. The Ewoks will need to apply their resources to other more pressing needs.

Running Back analysis

As previously mentioned, the Ewoks have tagged Elliott, meaning he’ll return to the team on a one-year deal unless they pivot their strategy. The Ewoks have no other running back of consequence under contract for 2020. Securing some help at arguably the most important position in the league is of the utmost importance. But finding the right price could prove to be tricky. This has to be a priority for the Ewoks. They don’t have the draft capital to go after any NFTs, so they’ll likely have to target a few mid-tier running backs in the auction and go after them aggressively.

Wide Receiver analysis

The Ewoks have two serviceable wide receivers under contract in Jarvis Landry and Golden Tate. Landry is a perennial WR2, and Tate finished as a WR3 despite missing the first four games of the 2019 season. Although they’ll need a WR1 heading into the 2020 season, it would probably be prudent to resist jumping into the deep end of the free agent pool given their cap situation. The team owns the restricted free agent rights to receiver Curtis Samuel, and could probably retain him for cheap. Adding a few more young or inexpensive options who might be sleepers heading into 2020 is probably the team’s best bet at the position.

Tight End analysis

The Ewoks landed one of the best tight ends in the league on the eve of the 2019 regular season, acquiring Mark Andrews via trade from Russia. Andrews would go on to finish as a Top 5 tight end and a regular contributor to the Ewoks in 2019. The Ewoks also have Trey Burton under contract for the 2020 season on the same 1-year, $4.00 million contract as Andrews. The once-promising versatile tight end fell out of favor last year while trying to recover from injury. The Ewoks could look to cut Burton and save an extra $2.00 million before the new league year begins in an effort to free up more funds for the auction. Outside a few of the premier players at the position, tight end production has been awfully erratic, and the Ewoks might be able to fill out their depth chart by taking chances on some relative unknowns. Ukraine, for example, landed Darren Waller for league minimum last year and he went on to have one of the best seasons among tight ends.

“What could be…”

Ecuador has a major decision facing them this offseason. Do they “go for it” in 2020 by retaining Elliott and pairing him with one or two other top-flight talents, essentially leaving the bottom two-thirds or three-quarters of their roster with players on cheap deals? Or, do they take a step back, ship away some of their higher-priced talent for draft picks and young pieces in an effort to get back on solid fiscal footing? Tanking — or “delayed gratification” to put it another way — is never an easy pill to swallow, but it can be effective. Russia, Jamaica, and Bangkok are three teams that have done it in recent seasons. Russia and Jamaica had solid bounce-back seasons while Bangkok appears to be on its way to that in 2020. If Ecuador chooses to stand pat with what they’ve got, their scouting department will have to be on high alert and at the top of their game. Undrafted rookies, players coming off injuries or down years, aging veterans in the twilight of their careers are just some of the chances that Ecuador may need to take in the 2020 Auction.

Next up: Turkey Jerky