BA ecu as standalone drive by wire controller

I have a boat project with an engine that uses a cable throttle and I'm having a hard time getting it to work properly so I want to adapt a DBW throttle body onto it.
Would it be possible to set up a BA ecu to work as a standalone throttle controller with only the throttle body and pedal hooked up to it?
Or would it have a fit with all the various sensors missing?
It doesn't need to do anything fancy, only open and close the throttle safely. I would test it for myself but I don't have spare ecu on hand that I'm willing to fiddle with.

Thanks.