2021 Team Capsules: Wake Island Wookiees

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

Well, that didn’t exactly go according to plan, did it? After a quick playoff exit in 2019, the Wookiees were hoping to make a better run in 2020 with a strong cast of players returning. The team had Matt Ryan at quarterback, who certainly can air the ball out. They had the duo of Saquon Barkley and Kenyan Drake at running back. They acquired the rights to DeAndre Hopkins to pair with Julio Jones. They had a pair of the top kickers and strong defenses. The one thing they were missing was a bona fide TE1. The Wookiees traded for — perhaps a little too aggressively — T.J. Hockenson from Nagasaki during the preseason to secure that No. 1 tight end. Nevertheless, they were set up for a nice run. That’s when disaster struck. Barkley went down with a torn ACL in Week 2 and missed the rest of the season. In an effort to fix the issue, the team abandoned one of its best players, Hopkins, for some replacement options at running back — who never panned out. The team traded away Drake for Todd Gurley, who flopped and finished as RB23. To say the moves were a little questionable is a bit of an understatement. As a result of the injuries and trades, the Wookiees plummeted to the bottom of the standings, and with the fewest optimal points, they earned the first pick of the 2021 draft. But that, as we shall look at next, led to a big problem.

A look ahead

So, what did the Wookiees get for their troubles? Not the first overall pick. That went to Nagasaki in the deal that acquired Hockenson. (Let that be a lesson to you yutes about trading first round picks for tight ends.) The other problem for the Wookiees was that the majority of their roster was on 1-year deals in 2020. Which means the team entered the 2021 offseason with just six players under contract, no first round draft pick, and just one pick overall. The team must rebuild and yet has little to no resources to do it with. The Wookiees are under new management this year and they have a mandate to turn the fortunes around. Ownership traded another first round pick, this one in 2023, plus a second-round pick in 2022. They acquired the free agent rights to James Robinson, who had a terrific rookie season, but he darn well better repeat that to justify the price they will be paying him and the compensation they gave up for him. The team also acquired a number of other pieces in two other trades to bring their roster to 16 players. Despite the numbers, the team will have other holes to fill and problems to solve. The Wookiees play in one of the toughest divisions in football, but with rule changes last year, they don’t have to win a bunch of games to make the playoffs. They just have to be one of the Top 4 scoring teams in the Southeast Conference. And with Christmas Island in clear rebuilding mode, Wake Island just needs to beat out one other team.

The Stock Report

Stock Up: James Robinson, RB/JAX; T.J. Hockenson, TE/DET.
Stock Down: Daniel Jones, QB/NYG; Todd Gurley, RB/ATL; Blake Jarwin, TE/DAL

Quarterback analysis

At present the Wookiees have one quarterback under contract, third-year pro Daniel Jones. Jones has had a bit of a rocky go of it thus far in his career. He has not completed a full season yet, and he followed up a promising rookie season with a bit of a dud as a sophomore. To his defense, he was playing without a full deck, but if the Wookiees intend to compete in 2021, they will need an upgrade over Jones heading into the season. One idea is to cut Jones. He currently is the third-highest paid quarterback in the MFFL, being paid the same amount as Patrick Mahomes, if that tells you anything. Cutting Jones would not cost the Wookiees anything as he is under his rookie contract. The $2.9 million in savings could be applied to a better free agent quarterback. Most of the QB1s are under contract, and it would not be recommended to trade any more future assets for a quarterback. The Wookiees can target a couple of cheap veterans via the auction and spin the roulette wheel with them during the season to see which one offers the best chance to win on any given week. After years of trading away draft picks, the Wookiees don’t have any prospects developing in the Rookie Corral, so the new management will have to be judicious with whom to target in the upcoming auction.

Running Back analysis

Barkley will be returning from a torn knee this coming year, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t resume his place as a top running back in the league. He is in the final year of his rookie deal and will be playing for a big contract next offseason. If the Wookiees are serious about being contenders this year, they are likely to keep Barkley around. But if they intend to rebuild, or even if they intend to diversify their portfolio, they could consider dangling Barkley on the trade market. It is certainly possible the team could acquire multiple starters for Barkley, as RB1s — particularly those on rookie contracts — are premium assets. If they are going to do this, they must collect all trade offers for him, determine which one is the best, and then decide if it is worth it to unload him. They can’t jump at the first offer available. To join Barkley this year, the Wookiees acquired Robinson and placed the EFT on him. He has his work cut out for him to repeat what he did last year and the Wookiees are heavily invested in him. The Wookiees also have Gurley on their books and his contract is a black hole for them. It is unlikely the team could get much for him in return, so he could find himself as a cap casualty before the start of the new league year. The Wookiees could save about $7.4 million by cutting him. The Wookiees also acquired Darrell Henderson and Joshua Kelley this offseason, but both players are just warm bodies at the moment. Assuming they keep Barkley and Robinson, Henderson and Kelley are plug-and-play reserves.

Wide Receiver analysis

Attacking the wide receiver position is definitely a priority for the Wookiees this offseason. At present, the No. 1 wideout on the roster is Preston Williams, who finished as WR100 last year. Now, he only played in 8 games, but he also only topped double digits twice. The Wookiees acquired Breshad Perriman, John Ross and Auden Tate to add numbers to their roster, but the three are just warm bodies. The Wookiees will need two starters at the position to be competitive. As mentioned previously, there is nobody developing in the Rookie Corral to activate. The Wookiees have unrestricted free agent Julio Jones, but his tag price is too high. They can’t trade any more future assets for one. So, unless they acquire a serviceable starter at both running back and receiver in a trade involving Barkley, the Wookiees’ best path to obtaining some starting receivers is to target discounted ones via the Auction. Fixing the receiver position is going to be a tough row to hoe this offseason.

Tight End analysis

The good news for the Wookiees is that despite the pretty penny that they gave up for him, the team at least has its tight end position solidified with Hockenson atop the depth chart. Hockenson, with two years remaining on his rookie deal, remains one of the Wookiees’ best assets right now. On the flip side, veteran Blake Jarwin, with two years remaining on a $4.3 million deal, is one of their biggest liabilities. He’s ranked TE21 this offseason, but is the third-highest paid at his position. Jarwin could be a cap casualty along with Gurley. The team could save $2.1 million this year and $2.2 million next year if he is released, or they could just bite the bullet this year with a $4.3 million cap hit and be free and clear next. Or, they could keep him around and just accept a lower ROI. Additionally under contract is Will Dissly, for two more years at league minimum. Dissly figures to be a warm body. He’s currently ranked as TE34, and unless his fortunes change, he won’t see the field much.

Biggest Objective

The biggest objective for the Wookiees this offseason is actually determining if they want to make a run this year or not. There is an awful lot of roster construction that remains ahead of them. The No. 1 piece of advice I would give is DO NOT — repeat: DO NOT — trade their 2022 1st Round Pick. Because if the Wookiees are unable to compete this season, they need that influx in young talent beginning with next year’s draft. But if the Wookiees want to compete this year, their biggest objective is to fix the wide receiver position. The running back position is fairly strong with Barkley and Robinson. The tight end position is solid with Hockenson. They don’t have to worry about a kicker or defense. They could use an upgrade over Jones at quarterback, but they really have to hammer that receiver position and get some competitors in there.

“What could be…”

It’s difficult to project what will happen for the Wookiees this offseason without knowing which direction the new management intends to go. So, we’ll look at both possibilities. Behind Door #1 is the Wookiees intending to do all they can to compete this year. If they do this, they need to upgrade the quarterback position, possibly by cutting Jones. They need to cut Gurley and secure half his contract in savings. Whether or not they cut Jarwin won’t have a profound effect. They need to aggressively target two starting wide receivers and then consider upgrades at FLEX. Maybe they dangle Barkley and see if they can find a 2- or 3-for-1 deal. In other words, there are five spots that need upgrades (QB, WR1, WR2, FLEX1, FLEX2). If they can do this, they have a shot at competing for a wild card spot. Behind Door #2 is the rebuild route. They trade Barkley and get multiple first-round picks. They dump any player that doesn’t have a future beyond this season so that they start with a clean cap in 2022. They no longer trade draft picks but instead seek to collect them. And they only bid on players in the auction who have a future beyond 2021. Which door will Wake choose? We’ll all be watching and waiting.

Next up: Switzerland Squirrels