Team Capsules: Jamaica Jerks

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

In 2018, Jamaica went full-bore tank mode after a rocky start to their season. The cause of such a move is to transfer the balance of talent from the immediate to the future, to make a murky today a brighter tomorrow. The Jerks’ tanking aspirations had a positive effect, although ultimately not as strong as they’d have liked. Jamaica accumulated a nice collection of young talent and one of, if not the best stable of running backs in the league in 2019, at least initially. The Jerks burst out of the gates last season to a 7-1 record while riding its backfield. The band of Dalvin Cook, Leonard Fournette, Austin Ekeler and James White was an explosive group at the league’s most important position. The Jerks scored the most points in the league on three separate occasions, and never scored less than fifth through the first eight weeks of the season. After that initial strong start, however, the wheels began to fall off. The Jerks lost four of their last six games, including one to the tanking Bangkok Blitz as well as the first-round playoff matchup to the Russia Renegades.

A look ahead

Jamaica is attempting to figure out how to regroup and reload for the 2019 season. That explosive backfield they enjoyed has now dissipated and the Jerks will have to reassemble as they see fit. The Jerks have four restricted free agents, two of whom they’ll strongly consider retaining. They have a few unrestricted free agents they can consider tagging. They have a deep wide receiver corps, plus their tight end and quarterback are under contract. They have the third-most available cap space and the highest available cash average in the league. In short, they have the resources available to them to build off their promising start to the 2019 season, but finish it strongly in 2020.

Quarterback analysis

Jamaica currently has one quarterback under contract, Jared Goff, who has a cap-friendly $0.75 million salary for the next two seasons. Goff had a bit of a regression last season after performing so well in 2018. He finished as the 13th-ranked QB, but he also had weeks of boom or bust — seven times finishing below 20 points, including three weeks in single digits. In total, he had good production for his contract value but the Jerks may want to bolster the position and create some competition to bring out the best in him.

Running Back analysis

As previously mentioned, the cupboard is a bit bare at the running back position, at least in the interim. Jordan Howard and Kalen Ballage are the only backs under contract, with second-year pro Alexander Mattison sitting in the Rookie Corral. The Jerks traded away the rights to Leonard Fournette in the offseason but also acquired the rights to Chris Carson. Dalvin Cook is a restricted free agent and the Jerks figure to retain him at all costs. They don’t need to use a tag on him, but might consider doing so given that he’ll be a hot commodity on the open market. Carson, meanwhile, will likely get a tag of some sort because the Jerks gave away promising young receiver A.J. Brown for his rights. His EFT is an obscene $19.50 million, though, so that’s off the table. The NFT or TT seems more logical for them at this point. The Jerks could also consider using the TT on UFA James White, but they’ll have to weigh the cost benefit on that.

Wide Receiver analysis

While the Jerks had one of the strongest run games in the league in 2019, the depth and inconsistency of the wide receiver position might have been their big undoing. The Jerks presently have six wide receivers under contract, second-most in the MFFL. But only two figure to be regular contributors in 2020, Jarvis Landry and Julian Edelman. The Jerks traded the free agent rights to Leonard Fournette to Christmas Island in exchange for the restricted free agent rights to Kenny Golladay. Golladay could fill that WR1 role and help solidify the receiver position. The Jerks also have the RFA rights to Zay Jones and Corey Davis, but neither have produced much in their short time in the league. Jamaica also has the UFA rights to Emmanuel Sanders, but his transition tag price is a little financially untenable.

Tight End analysis

The Jerks had one of the most cost efficient tight ends in the MFFL in 2019 in Austin Hooper, who finished as a Top 6 tight end on a $0.75 million contract. The Jerks have him locked up for two more seasons at that price, which helps them manage the cap at other positions. Jamaica owns the rights to unrestricted free agent Jason Witten, but he is unlikely to remain with the club. The team has no other tight ends under contract, but they can afford to add a cheap option later in the auction or draft.

“What could be…”

Jamaica owns, or at least has the rights to, several pieces to the 2020 puzzle. Now, they just have to assemble them in the right way. The Jerks traded away the second overall pick in the 2020 MFFL Draft for several second round choices. The Jerks have six picks in this year’s draft, four of which are in the second round. They’re not likely to get immediate contributors from this year’s draft class, but if their scouting department does its job, they could find a few talents that add to the team’s depth. As mentioned, the Jerks have among the most available cap space, but that’ll close quickly if, and after, they retain Cook, Carson and Golladay. If they can retain those three and add an additional FLEX player, there’s no reason to believe they can’t defend their West Division crown in 2020.

Next up: Russia Renegades