SURPRISE! AJAYI ON THE RISE
After 204- yard, 2- TD outing, Dolphin enters RB2 discussion with newfound workload
There are some things you just don’t see coming. A rubber band fired by a mischievous co- worker whizzing by your head. Your toddler son putting edamame up his nose instead of in his mouth. Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi rushing for 204 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers.
All of it surprising, and all of it happened.
Ajayi entered Week 6 with 117 yards and two touchdowns in four games. He didn’t travel with the team for the season opener in Seattle because of how he handled losing out on the starting job to Arian Foster. The Dolphins had tried four other running backs before Ajayi’s breakout game, and the Steelers had given up more receiving yards than rushing yards to running backs.
Yet, Ajayi went off. Looking back, there might have been signs of at least a breakthrough rather than a breakout. The Dolphins’ starting offensive line was in place for the first time this season. In the previous game, Ajayi was given the largest percentage of snaps for a Dolphins running back ( 68) since Foster in the opener ( 87).
But becoming the first player to rush for 200 yards against the Steelers since the Jaguars’ Fred Taylor ( 234) in 2000 wasn’t on the radar. That likely was Ajayi’s best game of the season, so the question becomes whether he can be a reliable scorer in an offense that entered the game ranked 31st in rushing and with an inconsistent quarterback in Ryan Tannehill, to put it nicely.
Volume shouldn’t be a problem for Ajayi. He had 25 carries Sunday after totaling 31 in his first four games. Plus, he saw 48 snaps, 36 more than the nearest backfield mate, Damien Williams ( six carries). Foster ( three carries) had only 11 snaps in his first game back after missing three.
The schedule is hit and miss for Ajayi. He’ll face the Bills’ middleofthe- road run defense this week. There are favorable matchups with the Chargers and 49ers and tough ones against the Jets and Ravens, although the Jets allowed 171 rushing yards against the Cardinals on Monday, their most since the 2014 season finale.
Ajayi is trending in the right direction, making him a mustown player. He was on only 42.7 percent of rosters in ESPN leagues at press time. He’ll need more consistency to become a must- start player, but his newfound leading role puts him in the conversation for RB2 status.