Philadelphia Eagles: Jay Ajayi is apparently “the guy” at running back
Rumor has it that the Philadelphia Eagles may shy away from the committee of running backs this season.
When was the last time the Philadelphia Eagles had a clear-cut number one running back? It dates back to the days of the franchise rushing leader, LeSean McCoy. Ever since “Shady” was randomly sent to the Buffalo Bills back in 2015, the Eagles backfield has been an ongoing mystery every single offseason.
To simply put it, it was tough to be satisfied with the Eagles backfield before last season. In 2017, the Eagles were fortunate enough to have a group of guys who were able to contribute to the Super Bowl success. For that, it seemed like the Eagles would stick with the running back-by-committee approach for 2018 and beyond.
Apparently, that’s not the case. Rumor has it that the Eagles may shy away from letting four, or maybe even five backs handle carries throughout the games this season. We all knew heading into OTAs that Jay Ajayi would lead the pack in 2018. But we also assumed that Corey Clement, Darren Sproles, and maybe two other guys would get their hands on the ball frequently as well.
Word around the Nova Care Complex is that Ajayi is being told that he is “the guy” in the backfield. We’ve seen Doug Pederson hand Ajayi a significant amount of carries in the first two games of the preseason, so we’re not the least bit surprised with hearing that he may be issued a large chunk of the production out of the backfield as the first week of the regular season approaches.
Is Ajayi the face of the backfield?
Could we see Ajayi get back to his old ways? Let’s not forget, when he was with the Miami Dolphins, Ajayi was the workhorse of the offense. Back in his Sophomore season in 2016, Ajayi was issued 260 carries for 1,272-yards, which finished as the fourth-most amount of rushing yards that season.
Ajayi saw a significant decrease in production last year, due to the downfall of the Dolphins, and the committee approach of the Eagles. And even though Ajayi was a substantial piece to the Eagles offense at times, we could almost consider his half-a-season in an Eagles uniform as a break from the workload that he took on the previous season.
There are only two concerns with Ajayi becoming a workhorse back once again with the Eagles. One being his durability. And two being his lack of scoring. Fortunately for the Eagles, that’s where the committee of backs come into play.
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We all know that the Eagles have some stellar talent behind Ajayi with Darren Sproles and Corey Clement. They might not have to share carries all the time, but both guys have a knack for being clutch when it comes to short-yardage and red zone situations.
In other words, the Eagles are going to be just fine no matter what they do at running back. But it all signs are pointing to Ajayi becoming a true three-down back this upcoming season. Also, it seems like they may actually look to keep Ajayi long-term after all if everything works out. Big things ahead for the 25-year-old running back in 2018.