It will make a difference in the cure process, depending on what your spice mix is. Just make sure you wipe as much as the fat off as you can as it's processed - may be a personal taste issue, but fatty jerky is too greasy. If you're using a kit like Hi Mtn they typically have different measures for whole muscle vs burger. It can be done, and can taste good as well. We recently did some up and turned out well. Suggest purchasing the jerky gun for the ground stuff. Never done it w/out it, not sure how I would do it otherwise.
As far as your second question, you can definitely use the ends. We've done burger like that even. Some people love it, some people aren't that big a fan of the bacon flavor it provides. It's all a matter of taste. And you can use it for sausage mix as well.
Good luck.