Examining the Jay Way

Running ability was always there for Ajayi.

- Alain Poupart

In the aftermath of the Dolphins’ disappointing performance against the Tennessee Titans, Head Coach Adam Gase said one encouraging thing he saw that day was the way Jay Ajayi ran the ball.

As it played out, Gase hadn’t seen nothin’ yet. 

Ajayi indeed ran hard against Tennessee, but against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills in the two games that followed, he not only ran hard, he ran loose. He ran free. He ran wild.

Simply put, Ajayi’s 204- and 214-yard rushing performances represented one of the greatest two-game stretches in Dolphins history, up there with Ricky Williams’ back-to-back 200-yard rushing performances in 2002, Cameron Wake’s six combined sacks against Tennessee and Houston last season, Reshad Jones’ pick-sixes in those same two games, or any two consecutive games by Dan Marino during his magical 1984 season.

But what made Ajayi’s back-to-back 200-yard games against Pittsburgh and Buffalo on the third and fourth Sundays of October is that they seemingly came out of left field — or should we say the end zone to make it a football metaphor?

Shoot, Ajayi wasn’t even listed as the starting running back on the depth chart when he broke loose against the Steelers.

But here’s the thing: Jay Ajayi didn’t totally come out of nowhere. Should anybody have expected him to have a 200-yard rushing game in his second season in the NFL, let alone two?

Probably not.

But there was a reason the Dolphins drafted him during the 2015 NFL draft. And the reason they were able to get him in the fifth round had nothing to do with his ability but rather because of long-term concerns about his knees.