In dad’s footsteps
Runner chases 2nd UM title in family.
DAVIE— Hewas stopped by fans in airports. Thatwas different. Hewas praised at the Pro Bowl by the game’s greats and former greats. Another change this off-season. Then there were the endless lists he suddenly appeared on, like being voted 69th by his peers on the NFL Network’s Top100 players.
“It’s cool,” Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi said. “It’s a good accomplishment, and [I’m] striving to be No.1.”
All nice. All deserved. All showing what everyone knew by January: Ajayi emerged from nowhere to be the better at what he did than any other Dolphins player at what they did last year. Hewas their best weapon. But here’s the telling part as coach Adam Gase spends months in the laboratory with an offense that returns mostly intact: You see the vision of this offense now. It’s not a quarterback-centric offense like New England’s with Tom Brady or Green Bay’s with Aaron Rodgers. Ryan Tannehill isn’t all that. But he can be Atlanta’s Matt Ryan or Seattle’s Russell
Wilson, and they’ve run championship-level teams with the help of, well, good help.
Ajayi proved last year he can be for Tannehill what Marshawn Lynch was for Wilson in Seattle, what the league’s fifth-best rushing attack last year was for Ryan in Atlanta. He can bring some old-school ball-control, physical presence and, as former Pittsburgh and current Dolphins linebacker Lawrence Timmons said, “He’s a great, one-cut runner. When he gets his pads north and south, he’s a problem.”
Dealing with success can be as tricky as dealing with failure. The good part here is Ajayi seems as driven to further his game this season as hewas to emerge last season.
“Consistency,” he repeated as a prime goal.
That’s the difference between the goods and the greats in any sport. Another goal: Being better without the ball.
“That comes along with the fakes, running routes, knowing the details, catching the ball and so that’s what we’ve been working on— I’ve been working on — this offseason and it’s been really good,” he said as the Dolphins began their organized team activities.
Ajayi caught 27 passes last year. He could double that, if that’s theway Gase wants to go. So this really becomes the question for off-season planning: How — and howmany times— does this offense put the ball in Ajayi’s hands?
Gase has mentioned 22-25 carries a game. Let’s hope that’s for motivational purposes. That’s as much as 400 carries in the regular season. Whew. Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott (322 carries) was the only running back with more than 300 carries last year. There are a lot of reasons for that— preservation, the passing game, shared duties.
New England is the counter to having any singular running back. The Patriots have had seven different leading rushers in the Brady and Bill Belichick era. Still, their last two Super Bowls came with a sledgehammer like LeGarrette Blount in the backfield.
Ajayi, of course, says he’ll do whatever asked. They all say that. But the important part of planning for this season is you know his strengths now. A year ago, the Dolphins started Arian Foster. They kept five running backs with the hope they found one.
In October, they found Ajayi. He ran for 1,272 yards despite playing sparingly the first month. He led the league in yards after contact. But the equally relevant part is you hear a player appreciative of that season but not resting on it.
“I think I’m a little bit more comfortable, but at the same time a lot more determined,” Ajayi said. “I knowwhat I can do in this league, but at the same time it’s about just pushing that box, pushing to reach even higher.
“I knowthat I can do a lot more and that’s kind of what this offseason is about — just working on the little things, the details to kind of takemy game to the next level and really have a great year.”
It’s May. It’s a longway from the last kickoff in January, a longway until the next kickoff in September. But this is the time to lay plans. You see the vision of this offense. It’s not Brady and his cast. It’s Wilson and Lynch.
Tannehill emerged last year, and Ajayi became the Dolphins’ best weapon. The issue nowis howmuch better he can get.