Ajayi trade shows Birds are in win-now mode
PHILADELPHIA » It looks like the old Eagles model with the franchise quarterback, the Andy Reid-type head coach, solid defense and reliable special teams. Best NFL record at the midway point, check.
But it isn’t, repeat is not the traditional way the Eagles make executive decisions.
The Eagles of years past wouldn’t have had the nerve to make a midseason trade for a stud running back like Jay Ajayi, who had issues with his previous employer and could potentially pollute a very high-functioning locker room. They would have laid-up in the fairway, said they weren’t risk averse and changed the subject.
The Eagles of now aren’t afraid of bold (traded Jordan Matthews), risky (traded for Ronald Darby), almost arrogant moves like the Ajayi trade. It’s as if Bill Belichick is on retainer.
“I think you take into account where you are,” football operations chief Howie Roseman said Tuesday. “It’s certainly different when you are 7-1 than if you’re having a losing season. But at the same time we are not going to do anything that puts us in a bad spot going forward. A big part of this trade is the fact that it’s a 24-year-old back who is not just on a one-year deal.”
Forget the mumbo jumbo. The trade is proof that the Eagles are shooting for a Lombardi Trophy this season. Making the playoffs for the first time in four seasons isn’t enough. Ajayi just might be the guy to make that trip to Minneapolis possible.
The Eagles’ running back by committee approach is functional and very effective at times, with leading rusher LeGarrette Blount darting in and out of traffic and famously throwing his 250 pounds like a runaway train.
The reality is, and will always be, that you don’t get the most out of the West Coast offense unless you have an every-down threat like Ajayi, who demonstrated how talented he was rushing for 200 or more yards in three games on his way to almost 1,300 yards last season.
This year the 220-pound Ajayi has a fraction of that yardage, partly because the Dolphins have to get used to another quarterback every few weeks due to injuries, and due to a bad Miami start when its season was delayed due to the hurricane season, and because of Ajayi’s complaints, according to reports.
Yet, the Dolphins are 4-3 and very much alive in the playoff hunt. And they preferred a fourth-round draft pick to Ajayi.
That indicates risk, even if Roseman said the Eagles did their social and medical research on Ajayi.
Blount can’t be jumping with joy after this move. He and Ajayi are the same type of back, only he’s older and slower. Think Wendell Smallwood is happy?
Kenjon Barner is the ultimate team player. Corey Clement is a rookie. And there’s Donnel Pumphrey. Anyone else remember when the Eagles thought Pumphrey, a fourth-round pick, was the next Darren Sproles? The little dog who thinks he’s a big dog. Pumpy just hasn’t jumped up to the hype. Hopefully he isn’t just a dog.
But let’s focus on Blount, who brought a Super Bowl championship swagger to the Eagles from the Patriots. You’re going to give some of his carries to Ajayi, from that two-bit Dolphins team the Patriots like to beat?
“LeGarrette’s awesome,” Roseman said. “He wants to win. He’s won. He’s all about winning. He’s been in situations before where there have been productive backs on the team. He’s been a tremendous team guy since he’s walked in the building and a leader for this football team. Nothing changed today.”
Nothing changed with the offensive line, that’s for sure. The Eagles need a left offensive tackle to replace 34-yearold Jason Peters not just this year, but probably next. Lane Johnson is happier, not to mention much more effective playing the right side than moving over to the left. Isn’t it vital to protect quarterback Carson Wentz, the biggest reason the Eagles have been so successful?
“It’s not like there’s a tree that you just pick tackles off of and you say, ‘Let’s just grab that guy,’” Roseman said. “We went into this with our roster knowing we would have some injuries.”
That’s still a huge issue, the left tackle spot where Hal Vaitai is trying to survive and the Denver Broncos can target this Sunday. Defensive ends Von Miller and Derek Wolfe might have to draw straws to see who gets the most rushes against Vaitai.
Framed against the decision to bring in a big-time running back and the reluctance to upgrade the offensive tackle position is a team that plays so unselfishly that it’s fun, once again, to watch them week in and and week out.
Who among us thought the Eagles weren’t at least another year away from greatness? Even head coach Doug Pederson walked back his preseason comment that the Eagles “probably” had more talent than some of the Packers’ Super Bowl teams he served.
This trade for Ajayi says what Pederson was unable to say — the Eagles are aiming for the Lombardi Trophy.