The “Face of the Franchise”: Whose jersey is selling in each MFFL location? January 15, 2021 RB Dalvin Cook definitively remains the face of the Jamaica Jerks. Ah, the mighty jersey sales. The metric we use to determine which players are garnering the most attention locally from their fan bases. Which players are the face of their franchises? To whom do fans look for some kind of hope for a better future to come? Let’s take a look around the league. Bangkok Blitz — Jonathan Taylor, RB/IND Last year, the Blitz were in a state of organized chaos. As new ownership took over, they deliberately blew up the team in an effort to rebuild the franchise in accordance with their own vision. As such, merchandise wasn’t exactly flying off the shelves and there wasn’t much demand for certain jerseys. The 2020 season was not about competing for a championship as much as it was creating an identity and laying a foundation for 2021 and beyond. The Blitz drafted five running backs in last year’s draft, three of them within the first four picks. Of all the additions last year, plus those veterans who were retained amid the roster upheaval, perhaps no player saw his stock rise quite like running back Jonathan Taylor. Although he was selected second overall, Taylor had the finest season among his fellow rookie teammates, finishing sixth among all running backs in scoring. The Blitz will have a strong core moving forward with Taylor hanging on to the crown for now. Christmas Island Crabs — D’Andre Swift, RB/DET The Crabs went into last offseason as the reigning champions with really two players pacing the franchise in jersey sales: veteran receiver Michael Thomas and rookie running back Miles Sanders. Thomas was going to be an expensive option to retain, thus they parted ways with him and turned the keys to the kingdom over to Sanders. A new challenger to the throne has emerged after a rocky 2020 year from Sanders. Rookie D’Andre Swift, selected with the third overall pick — the same slot in which Sanders was drafted the year before — led the team’s backfield with 210.6 points. Sanders actually averaged a fraction more points per game but wound up missing four games throughout the season. The Crabs will have to make a decision on quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason, and he’s always been a fan favorite of the organization. But for now, Sanders and Swift remain the key pieces of the organization with Swift earning slightly more accolades heading into 2021. Ecuador Ewoks — Ezekiel Elliott, RB/DAL The Ewoks will have an opportunity to rebuild the organization heading into 2021. They begin the offseason with just six players under contract and they’ll have the sixth pick in the draft to add a key young piece to the puzzle. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill finished as QB10 this past season. Running back Tony Pollard came on late in the season and flashed some potential should he be given more opportunity to play. Veteran tight end Jimmy Graham was fourth among tight ends with 8 touchdowns. And rookie tight end Cole Kmet averaged 6 targets per game over the final five weeks of the season, showing he could have a role in the future. But the face of the franchise remains Ezekiel Elliott. The Ewoks will have an interesting decision with the unrestricted free agent. They can retain him at a high cost again, or deal him for some picks or young assets. For now, though, he remains highly popular among the Ecuadorians. Egypt Pharaohs — Patrick Mahomes, QB/KC Egypt completed the three-peat as South Division champions and are strengthening their grip on the division. The Pharaohs received a strong third-year performance from Ronald Jones, who finished as RB16. They acquired veteran David Johnson midway through the season, which certainly created a buzz in the Nile Delta. Veteran Adrian Peterson turned in an admirable performance for a 52-year-old running back. His name recognition alone sold jerseys. Joe Mixon remains popular with the fanbase, although his season ended after just six games. No team had a more questionable receiving corps last offseason than the Pharaohs, which is why they went hard after free agents during the league’s auction. The returning Robby Anderson put up a spectacular season, finishing WR18. He was followed by Marvin Jones at WR19, and Jamison Crowder, who finished WR40, but averaged 17.5 points per game. The team acquired tight end Evan Engram midway through the season which also brought more merchandise sales. But in spite of all that action, quarterback Patrick Mahomes remains the face of the franchise, finishing fourth at his position and averaging 27.7 points per game. Jamaica Jerks — Dalvin Cook, RB/MIN For the second straight year, the top-selling jersey in Jamaica remained that of running back Dalvin Cook. Cook finished as the league’s No. 3 running back, averaging 28.4 points per game, trailing only Christian McCaffrey in that statistic. The Jerks generated some buzz with the selection of Joe Burrow in the draft, and surely Burrow will be a top seller for years to come. The team acquired the rights to veteran running back Chris Carson in the offseason and he finished as the RB17. Midway through the season, Jamaica made a splash by trading a first-round pick for receiver Keenan Allen, who had a great season and finished as WR10. The jersey sales for receiver Kenny Golladay tanked as he was only able to suit up for 5 games. Should he return healthy for 2021, he’ll re-emerge as one of the most popular players on the team. But for now, all eyes remain on Cook as the face of the franchise. Nagasaki Kamikazes — Kyler Murray, QB/ARI The Kamikazes assembled an All-Star cast of players for the 2020 season en route to a Super Bowl appearance, thus merchandise was flying off the shelves all season long. Running back Aaron Jones had another stellar season, finishing fifth among running backs in scoring. Free agent pickup James Robinson averaged 21.2 points per game and was the seventh-ranked running back last year. Receiver Davante Adams played last season under the exclusive franchise tag and he was playing for a big payday, finishing as the league’s No. 1 receiver. He was joined by DeAndre Hopkins, who was acquired midseason from Wake Island and who finished fourth among receivers in scoring. Second-year pro A.J. Brown finished as the WR14 and turned a lot of heads in Nagasaki. And of course, despite only playing in seven games, the highest-paid player in the MFFL, Michael Thomas, sold a lot of merchandise as well. Despite all that talent, second-year quarterback Kyler Murray finished as the league’s highest scoring player and was the face of the franchise. Russia Renegades — Calvin Ridley, WR/ATL A year ago, Lamar Jackson led all quarterbacks in scoring and was the face of the franchise in Russia. This year, rookie third-round pick Justin Herbert filled in for a struggling Jackson and ate into his production, finishing as the highest-scoring rookie. Running back Josh Jacobs remains a popular player in Russia as does Kareem Hunt. Longtime Renegade Hunter Henry remains a fan favorite as does veteran Allen Robinson. The Renegades had five first-round draft choices a year ago, giving them plenty of jersey sales for the rookies. But among those newcomers, receiver Justin Jefferson stood out among the rest, finishing seventh among receivers in scoring. Despite the diversity in fan attention, the most jersey sales came from third-year pro Calvin Ridley. The receiver was fifth in the league at his position in scoring and helped the Renegades win a lot of games en route to their second consecutive third-place finish. San Juan Scorpions — Alvin Kamara, RB/NO For a team loaded with talent, the San Juan Scorpions had plenty of merchandise sales on their way to winning the 2020 Super Bowl. Josh Allen made a huge jump in his third season as a pro, finishing second among all quarterbacks in scoring. Despite missing four games, running back Nick Chubb had a strong 2020 campaign, finishing as the RB11 and averaging 20.4 points per game. The Scorpions made a big splash last offseason, landing Stefon Diggs from the Kamikazes. Diggs finished second among wide receivers in scoring and definitely generated a buzz in Argentina. San Juan had four Top 20 receivers, including second-year pros DK Metcalf and Terry McLaurin. Metcalf made a huge jump from WR33 as a rookie to WR8 this past year. Despite all of that talent, the face of the franchise remains running back Alvin Kamara. Drafted 10th overall by the Scorpions in 2017, the running back finished at the top of his position this year, won MVP honors, and remains the face of the franchise. Switzerland Squirrels — Adam Thielen, WR/MIN The Squirrels have endured some hardship over the past two seasons, finishing 1-12 in both 2019 and 2020. The team began selling off assets before the trade deadline in 2019, even shipping away fan favorite Adam Thielen to San Juan. They reacquired Thielen last offseason and were hoping to make a run at the postseason with several key pieces. Veteran running backs James Conner and Leonard Fournette were joined by rookie Zack Moss to help lead the backfield. Receiver Cooper Kupp was a key addition last offseason as well, and he went on to finish as WR26. The little engine that could, Cole Beasley, was an underrated signing. Beasley, earning league minimum, finished one spot behind Kupp at WR27. Fans love a feel-good story. The Squirrels acquired one of the top tight ends in the league last year in Mark Andrews, who has become a fan favorite there. But in the end, Thielen remains the face of the Squirrels organization, having a much-improved 2020 season at WR11. Turkey Jerky — Derrick Henry, RB/TEN The Jerky had one of the most expensive payrolls midway through last offseason with some costly contracts on the books. Receiver Mike Evans was the highest-paid player in the MFFL for a period of time but earned his keep with a WR13 finish in 2020. Amari Cooper, on the other hand, was one of the cheapest receivers in the league at $1 million. Cooper finished two spots below Evans at WR15, and he remains a popular player in Turkey. The Jerky acquired Tyler Boyd last offseason which generated some fan buzz, as did the acquisition of running back Melvin Gordon. Boyd finished at WR29 while Gordon checked in at RB14. With all their high-priced talent, there was quite the excitement in Turkey, but clearly running back Derrick Henry was the face of the franchise. Acquired midseason in 2019, Henry went on to have a spectacular second half of the season. The team used the EFT on him last offseason and Henry proceeded to finish as the RB2, averaging 25.4 points per game in 2020. Ukraine Grainers — Christian McCaffrey, RB/CAR There is no shortage of star power in Ukraine for the football-hungry fanbase to enjoy watching. Quarterback Deshaun Watson remains one of the top players in the league at his position. Watson finished third behind only Kyler Murray and Josh Allen in quarterback scoring. Running back David Montgomery had a huge second-year jump and finished fourth among all running backs in points. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill continues to wow fans with his huge performances. The Cheetah finished as WR3 and averaged 26.2 points per game. Fourth-year pro Chris Godwin missed four games and experienced a significant drop-off from his breakout third season but remains a fan favorite. Tight ends George Kittle and Darren Waller remain among the best in the league. Kittle missed a great deal of time and watched as Waller finished as TE2, behind only Travis Kelce. Despite all that star power, running back Christian McCaffrey remains the face of Ukraine. McCaffrey played in just three games, but showed his prowess in those, averaging 34 points per game. Wake Island Wookiees — Saquon Barkley, RB/NYG The 2020 season was one to forget for the Wookiees. Hoping to rebound from a subpar 2019 season, the Wookiees traded a first round pick for tight end T.J. Hockenson, whom they were hoping would be the final piece to the puzzle. Hockenson did show improvement in his second season, finishing as TE4, but he wasn’t enough to overcome other areas. Matt Ryan led the Wookiees and finished as QB11. Daniel Jones was supposed to take the next step in his career arc, but finished at QB23. The Wookiees acquired veteran running back Todd Gurley, which got fans talking. But Gurley finished at RB23. The Wookiees acquired receiver DeAndre Hopkins to pair with Julio Jones, which generated a lot of preseason buzz. But the Wookiees gave up on Hopkins early while Julio missed a lot of time due to injury. The face of the franchise remains running back Saquon Barkley, who played in only two games in 2020. The team is hoping he will come back healthy next year in his contract year, and the fans are itching to see more from him.