Eagles are ready to play smash mouth football with Jay Ajayi

After being slowly eased into the system, the Philadelphia Eagles will finally utilize Jay Ajayi more.

One of the biggest concerns of the 2017 offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles was the run game. Even though it didn’t turn out to be as bad as we originally thought, Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas made a major move to improve the backfield. Before the trade deadline, the Eagles sent a draft pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Jay Ajayi.

When the trade went down, it seemed like the Eagles were going to get plenty use out of Ajayi. But since his arrival in Philadelphia, Ajayi has had to be extra patient with his new offense. In comparison to last season, Ajayi took 52 fewer carries out of the backfield. A lot of that had to do with the fact that he took no more than 15 carries in a game with Philadelphia.

Ajayi had an extremely important role while with the Dolphins. Sometimes it would take him to rush for over 200 yards in order for them to win a game. That is something he had to do three times last year. Things looked a little different for him this season when he failed to surpass 100 yards in a single game with the Eagles.

All aboard the Jay Train:

Now that the Eagles offense suffered a major loss when Carson Wentz went down, it’s time for a change in the system. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson originally made it clear that the offense would not change despite being led by Nick Foles. He wasn’t lying either. Foles ended up throwing the ball close to 40 times in his first two starts this season.

Although he looked good in one of his two full games played, it is clearly evident that something needs to change. Now that the Eagles are in a do or die situation in a couple of weeks, Pederson has some changes coming on the offense. He finally made it clear that we will see more Ajayi on the offense.

So does this mean that Ajayi will receive 20-25 carries in the divisional round? It is highly-likely. The reality is that Foles struggles when asked to throw so many times. Especially in the bitter cold weather. So now the Eagles will have to play smash mouth football instead of trying to air it out, forcing the ball to the receivers.

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Get ready to see Ajayi run loose at the Linc, finally. Plenty of Eagles fans have been calling for it and now Pederson is making it happen. Utilizing Ajayi in the run game could really help the offense hold up their end of the bargain with the Eagles stingy defense. Get ready for smash mouth playoff football, Philadelphia.