More on Ajayi
Posted: November 1st, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 182 Comments »I went back and watched Jay Ajayi play against the Falcons (26-130) and the Ravens (13-23) to get a better feel for him. I came away very impressed.
Ajayi is strong enough to break tackles and not go down on first contact. He’s also elusive enough to make defenders miss. That combination makes him a dangerous runner. LeGarrette Blount can run guys over, but he can’t do this.
Once again, contact made behind the LOS. Ajayi bounces outside and uses the stiff arm to get a couple extra yards.#Eagles pic.twitter.com/udDzCgqwUn
— Greg S. Kennedy (@GregSKennedy) October 31, 2017
That ability to bounce something wide and then burst up the field makes Ajayi unique for such a powerful runner. Go back and re-watch some Eagles run plays from this year. You will see times when there are holes. Blount is slow to get through them. Clement doesn’t always show the vision to find them. Smallwood just doesn’t seem to be on the field enough to take advantage of them.
Ajayi has pretty good vision. He is physically gifted. He is tough and durable. He should be an excellent addition to the run offense. Here are some more runs you just aren’t seeing from Eagles RBs this year.
Shot 2 – A few examples of Ajayi's ability to run with his shoulders over his toes, leaning forward and accelerating thru contact #Eagles pic.twitter.com/Zl3HzRTPYL
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) October 31, 2017
What about pass protection?
.@Eagles have to look at JayTrain in pass pro and ask; is it indecision or is it the Dolphins team that leads 2 confusion #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/i2cxg3vkup
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/925384784603418625
Clearly, the ability is there. He must be more consistent.
So what do you do with the RBs right now?
It could be Wendell Smallwood that is sitting. Blount will play. Ajayi will play. Kenjon Barner is the team’s punt returner and is among league leaders. The coaches seem to like Corey Clement. Smallwood could be the guy on the outside.
He didn’t play much last week. I don’t know if he was still hurting and the coaches were just saving him or if they have just lost some faith in him. Smallwood is the best pass catcher of any of the backs and can be a valuable asset to this offense. This isn’t about talent. This is either health or something with the coaches. We’ll get a better feel on Sunday when we see who is active and who isn’t.
You could try to keep all five RBs active. You know these guys will be sitting.
Steven Means
Taylor Hart
Justin Hamilton
Elijah Qualls
Shelton Gibson
Ronald Darby
Can you find one more guy to sit? LB Nate Gerry maybe. My guess is one of the RBs will be joining that list. We’ll find out on Sunday.
One of the most important things about Ajayi is here. Big play potential.
Shot 6 – Ajayi isn't just a power back though. Plenty of examples of his burst flying through a hole and breaking away in space. pic.twitter.com/mVGOhPcHH0
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) October 31, 2017
This is a guy you want on the field and this is someone you want getting touches.
Good move, Howie.
_
If the Eagles could control the clock before, think of what they’ll be able to do now. Love Ajayi’s ability to burst to the outside. Teams will not be able to clog up the middle. Wonder how many two back sets we’ll see.
Eagles fans and their love of the 2 back sets. We all thought Sproles would mean lots of 2 back sets. Didn’t happen. Then we added Ryan Matthews and D-bag Murray, so we need both on the field at the same time. Didn’t happen. Now that we have Ajayi, guess what? They are simply going to split carries.
Yeah, I was thinking splitting carries too. I would just rotate them. Pound, pound, and pound some more. Thunder and Thunder!
I’d rather sit Clement – I still don’t understand why he made the team. He’s nothing special, just a dime-a-dozen RB – he flashed in pre-season and it seems like the coaches listened to the loud fans. Smallwood at least gives you the chance to be the outlet on a dump pass if needed. Barner needs to stay on the sideline until a kick comes on – he is not that good as an RB.
Clement contributes more than Smallwood on ST.
Clement is a solid player. He made the team because he’s better than Pumphrey, more reliable than Smallwood, and younger than Blount
We’ll see next year when Pumphrey isn’t hurt and Clement is working at McDonalds
Or we’ll see when he’s still playing for the Eagles and you’re working at McDonald’s.
Cute – I might buy a couple McDonald’s just so I can fire idiots like you but that will be about it.
Catching a fade pass in the endzone isn’t dime a dozen – by an undrafted rookie FA? With the toe drag? To me that’s notable. I’m not saying give him snaps over Blount and Ajayi per se.
Clement really isn’t getting enough credit for that catch. It’s all been “Wentz Wentz Wentz!” I doubt any of our other RB’s (and maybe not even the WR’s) bring that in.
I really doubt coaches listen to fans. At all.
Of course they don’t. Doug does listen to his coaches and his players. He isn’t Andy.
Smallwood plays timid on the field. Not much flash at all. That’s why I would dress Ajayi, Blount, Clement and Barner. Four RBs.
Obviously the two proven veteran guys are in there. After that, Clement plays with some fire. Runs between the tackles and runs to the edge well and turns the corner. And obviously he can make a big catch like against DC. Clement shows out on game day.
Barner is the special teams ace. So those are my four guys. Smallwood doesn’t seem to give you anything special that another RB on the team doesn’t do much better.
Don’t know if he’s hurt or what. Hasn’t shown much this year when everybody else has had big plays in games.
Clement is a key special teamer as well. I think that’s why he would dress over Smallwood, I actually think Smallwood plays pretty well when given the chance, he just hasn’t had many opportunities.
So Clement and Barner for ST’s, Blount and Ajayi to split the real workload at RB. I like that.
Bench Smallwood to show lackluster attention to detail (e.g., blitz pass protection) won’t be tolerated.
Maybe he responds to it.
I agree. I think this is what is going on, and will continue.
I was wondering how much the nagging injuries play into it.
Is Darby definitely sitting this week?
I came here to ask about him, can’t find any info. Thought they talked about him being back for Washington.
Wait for the inactive list to be announced.
The waiting is the hardest part.
I hadn’t heard anything definitive about Darby, though Tommy may know more than we do. I’d expect that he’d play this week, he’s been practicing for two weeks now. Maybe they’ll give him the bye and he’ll come back then.
As bad as Denver has been with their passing offense, I’d rather see him sit another week and get completely healthy. He can come back after the bye week.
Maybe he should get his feet wet before Dallas game. Sanders is probably coming back this week . We’ll see what they decide..
Sanders is coming back and even though Brock sucks he may be able to wake that offense up a bit. They don’t have to be great on offense with that defense, just functional
Brock isn’t going to magically turn things around. The Eagles have been blessed in the past with being able to plug in a backup QB and still have success, but this isn’t due to injury. How cohesive is Denver’s offense? How’s their locker room? They’re praying for a jump start.
Who makes definite decisions about players being active on a Wednesday for a Sunday game – zero teams ever.
BS, some players are clearly ruled out. Tommy inferred that he was sitting this week, thought I might have missed something.
Ok, yeah besides official reports of being “out”.
So you have no idea what Tommy is referring to here, which seems to run counter to other reports on Darby potentially playing this week?
My point is its all speculation. And the game will start at the designated time, it’s not that designated time yet. What’s the point of even having this conversation? We’ll know when we need to know.
…you clearly don’t understand how the internet works.
There’s a lot about technology that I don’t understand, I don’t see how that’s relevant here.
Internet forums are for debating bullshit that doesn’t matter. Like if Darby is going to play. It doesn’t matter, because like you said, we’ll find out. But we’re going to talk about it until then, because it’s the internet.
Aha, suit yourself.
And there will always be people telling us to stop talking about something they don’t want to talk about…because it’s the internet.
9 minutes ago, on that thing I don’t understand, some website called “bleedinggreennation” reported that it’s unknown whether Darby will be active for this week’s game against Denver. There’s that.
Alright, we’ve had the luxury of not stressing for a couple of weeks after beating Washington. I think we all really knew that SF was going to be a cakewalk.
That Denver defense is no joke and I hope the guys are dialed in this week. Denver’s record isn’t good but this is the best defense we’ll probably play all season.
I’m worried about Dallas. They’re having a “down” year while we’re exceeding expectations. They’re only 2 games behind us. It would be disappointing to start out so well only to have them just win it in the end.
I’m not worried. Even a split with them would make it very difficult to catch us. Dallas would have 7 games to win 3 more games than us and make up ground in the tie breakers.
Obviously the team should have higher expectations than I do for those games, but as a fan, I think we get to the play offs even if we lose one to Dallas.
That’s the negadelphian in you. As a fan base we have been collectively waiting for the other shoe to drop. This team is different. This QB is different.
I don’t see Dallas coming out of th KC, Atl, Philly stretch very well. Not without Elliott. If they lose any 2 of those games the division is out of their reach.
It’ll take more than 8 games this year to make us forget years of choking down the stretch.
We negadephians will see how we feel after this year…
Ajayi does tend to run to the outside a lot, which was what Gase was complaining about.
Lol, just reminds me exactly of what Chip did too Shady. Gase has to be losing that team.
Not
For
Long…
(as they say.)
Demarco*
See, with Demarco, Kelly was actually the one calling all the outside runs for his one-cut inside runner. Ajayi is actually good at outside runs, but Gase doesn’t see the value.
I say Shady due to the fact that part of the reason Shady was traded was because Chip felt like he would dance too much/go outside to try and hit a homerun; therefore resulting in a higher average TFL ratio as opposed to his other counterparts in the league.
The big reason is that Shady did not buy into him.
Situations are almost duplicates minus player names, timing, and trade compensation.
Chip used Shady as intended, Chip’s donkey butt refused to invest in OGs so Shady was forced to dance more often than he’d like. He was also traded because of cap space (that should be void because of the Demarco signing) and the attitude. Little did he know, Demarco had the same issues because Chip was the issue.
Shady in Buffalo is still a leader in TFL. In 2013 when we had good guards he was leader in TFL. That is the type of player he is. He dances looking for the home run. Not knocking on it, just saying a fact.
Chip wanted a 1 cut runner who would not do that. Hence Gore, Mathews, Murray.
What kind or role has Douglas played in this acquisition or in the other late roster signings/trades (e.g., Blount/Darby)?
I haven’t heard from him since before training camp began.
Did you try texting him? Maybe he was too busy to return your calls.
He’s not a “talk to the media guy”. We’ll never know. I think fans are wasting their time trying to parse who is responsible for what. We don’t know. And we won’t.
But he’s a behind the scenes guy anyhow – he’s not a talker.
Can you blame him though? I wouldn’t want to talk to most of our media guys either.
Not one iota.
And for the record – the fact that our particular bunch of media can be unbearable/unreasonable (plug in whatever well-earned adjective you’d prefer), that’s irrelevant to me. I see zero benefit of a guy like Douglass talking to the media, and a plethora of negatives.
I thought he mainly dealt with drafting.
You know these guys will be sitting.
Steven Means
Taylor Hart
Justin Hamilton
Elijah Qualls
Shelton Gibson
Ronald Darby
I don’t agree. Its already been mentioned that Darby may play. In addition, it’s possible Hart may be active instead of Warmack.
From the Dolphins message board……
https://thephins.com/threads/ajayi-traded-to-eagles-for-a-4th.92168/
It’s like we dodged TWO bullets by not hiring McAdoo OR Gase.
Yeah, Pederson really feels like a classic “less is more” hire.
Eh, just keep your sense of humor when the shine rubs off of Dug. Ron Rivera Looked like a dud for years, and then Riverboat Ron was great, and now a dud. Dan Quinn looked great last year. Now? There will be a point when Dug isn’t so good.
Mike McCarthy is always a dud, but looks great because of Rogers. As long as Wentz plays well Doug will look good
If Rodgers is unhappy with McCarthy, now would be the time for him to complain to his FO. If they lose out the Packers would have the perfect excuse to can him. McCarthy is probably the only thing keeping Rogers from another SB.
Looking ahead…
https://twitter.com/ZBerm/status/925741505947557893
The Brocket Ship!
Not a rocket ship…
The Brock Bottom.
*edit* Insomniac beat me to it
Knowing our tradition of looking bad against terrible QBs, he might light us up or we’ll light him up. I’ll lean towards we’ll light him up.
I’m a bit annoyed because he has more of an arm than Siemean.
Brings deep balls back into play.
Hopefully we won’t give him time to throw deep.
DONT worry. Cox will make sure he’ll have enough time for a deep throawt.
Emmanuel Sanders expected back too. We could really use Darby for a guy like him
CJ Beathard would like this tradition to be explained to him. After we crush Osweiler, we need to collectively put that particular fear to bed.
Beathard is a rookie.
Still counts. Too bad for him, the new Eagles crush terrible QB’s.
Nuh uh rookies aren’t real players until they’re in year 2. Playground rules.
He is a 3rd rd pick rookie…not fair to judge him especially on that horrific SF team
I think in the short term, it will be easier to justify not giving Ajayi the most snaps just because he won’t know the offense/protections. Once he’s up to speed though, I imagine he will not enjoy being taken out of the game on goal line sets for Blount.
His first impression will be important, he’s not the man here and will never be. We don’t run the ball 40+ times often so he’s going to have to learn to be a team player or Doug is gonna have to whup his ass into shape. He’s going to learn that his diva attitude won’t fly here unless he clearly produces everyone else.
Maybe he will just “love on him” like he did with Agholor
Ags was never a diva (that we know of).
There hasn’t been a team this century to rush 40 times a game.
The Steelers ran 38 times in ’04 (rookie QB, right?). Even Dallas, who lead the league in attempts last year, was around 30.
Every RB in the NFL knows they’re lucky to get 20 touches on game day.
Ricky Williams used to get 40 rushes a game, but he was a freak of nature
not so sure…
http://www.nfl.com/player/rickywilliams/2503715/careerstats
He had 40+ rushes in one game in 2003, but that’s it.
We’ve been close to 40 touches a game for the entire group a few times this year if I remember correctly.
We’re averaging just under 29 rushing attempts per game
You’re right. After further investigation, we actually lead the league in attempts by 3 over the Bears (246 vs 243).
Conference. 4th in league.
30.8 including kneeldowns and QB runs.
the bye week is timely. Let him dip the toes in the water this week on low stakes plays, then have him couch-camp at the Stoutlands’ household for a week, reconvene with the team for a couple of practiced the next week, then run the football down the Cowboys’ throats.
We KNOW Darby will be sitting?
Frankly, I hope not. I want to see this guy again, even if it’s for only a handful of snaps.
Hate to see him give up big plus due to rust in that cowboys game. Let’s shake it off against Brock
I can see them working him in against faster receivers. In Arizona they moved Robinson around for that reason (though I think that turned out okay…).
That is fucking hilarious, Brock Osweiler comes full circle. That’s amazing.
I was hoping to see another week of Siemian.
Not that Osweilier is good but the Broncos might get more of a ‘dead cat bounce’ this week with him at the helm. Plus Eagles likely did more preparation for Siemian too.
Some of the Twitter picture reactions of Broncos’ players on Siemian’s INTs on MNF were pretty hilarious.
Eagles CB Patrick Robinson has cleared the concussion protocol.
Robinson is the Eagles’ slot corner but has been seeing more reps outside with rookie Rasul Douglas struggling. With Ronald Darby (ankle) expected back this week, Robinson should kick back inside and Jalen Mills outside
Info is just all over the place this week on the corners. Darby sitting and not sitting. Douglas struggling now. Mills is both terrible and the Defensive PotWeek. Okay then.
Hence – take speculation by national/local media with a grain of salt.
Or the dead sea’s worth.
Yeah i didn’t think Rasul was struggling. Only thing I took from this report that Robinson is cleared to play. Who do you think is going to cover DT on Sunday? I think Rasul should but what do I know?
Put Seumalo on him. (I wouldn’t have a clue)
Nah, Qualls is more nimble.
Amongst rookies, Rasul has the second lowest QBR when getting thrown at. He’s up and down, yeah, but “struggling” –nah.
As expected for a rookie to be fair. Not every rookie CB can be Marshon Lattimore (who was by far the most talented CB in the draft).
I hadn’t noticed Douglas struggling. He’s gotten beat a couple times but also made some nice plays. Struggling is whatever Bradley Fletcher was doing when he was here.
One dude’s opinion in the media…
I don’t know if it’s struggling so much as the fact that he is a rookie, and they are picking and choosing his matchups so as not to overwhelm him.
This seems right to me. I’m guessing that someone who doesn’t follow the Eagles that closely sees that his snaps are down in a given week (due to the matchup) and infers that he is struggling.
The thing with Douglas is that, he’s not the fastest so you want to test him but at the same time he can make you pay if you test him. He’ll get better when he learns the nuances of playing in the NFL. My only worry is where we’ll play him in the future since he’s not a slot CB.
I love his attitude and awareness. Definitely fits the Schwartz mold.
He’s not a punk like Sconces and he’s not burnt toast like Bradley Fletcher. That’s already a winning formula for a CB.
Mills I think will eventually move to safety. Jones or Darby could kick into the slot role in nickel.
Never thought about Mills as a safety, that’s interesting!
He’s a fun player to watch, I’d hate for him to not play because he’s only a 4.5 guy
I’d like a more rangy safety if we can get one.
Mills is tiny, though. Dude is too skinny to play safety.
Raz Agul looks solid to me. He’s no sconces
it’s fun, I guess, to pull only the good runs. Pretty sure we can do that Blount and Smallwood as well and get excited. There’s a lot of questions surrounding the games where JA was invisible. A video of showing him picking up 1 block? Need more evidence….more to the point….
May I have your attention please?
May I have your attention please?
Will the real Jay Ajayi please stand up?
I repeat will the real Jay Ajayi please stand up?
We’re going to have a problem here….
Good point
Tommy: you didn’t embed that last Baldy tweet
Me either. He’s got an awesome voice. Like James Bond.
Yeah, and his parents are Nigerian…which is somewhat similar to his new teammate, Nelson Agholor, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria.
West African accents are my favorite.
Now the question is, does Ajayi teach Ags about strip clubs or vice versa?
Seems like I’m always late to the discussion from over here in the W time zone.
I heard tell that the boys were interested in Ajayi as a fix for their Zeke issue. If so, that is even better that we snagged him – although I also heard that the boys have mismanaged…I mean, were less efficient with the CAP and he was never going to go there (mismanaged is a derogatory term and i am maintaining a positive attitude these days). Already been discussed?
I wondered out loud about it, but without any rumors or evidence.
The cap thing doesn’t make much sense, though, since Ajayi is on a rookie deal he is likely cheaper than the guy they would cut.
I bet he uses “liberty” incorrectly too.
Gtfoh
so we might just have picked up our futur bell cow rb for a 4th round pick. now rb is off the early draft board so we can draft 3 OL, 1 Lb, ,1 dl, 1 wr, 1s and we gooood 2go. #the howie way
According to Twitter Nate Sudfeld was promoted to the 53 men roster?! Wtf
Foles injured kneeling at end of game?
YES his elbow.
Greenbay probably was trying to sign him.
Or maybe the Eagles are trying to trade Foles in the off season.
Probably both, really.
Think the Pats have asked about Foles ?
They just signed Hoyer. So no. They’re set on backup.
If they saw Brady as retiring this year, they wouldn’t have shipped out Jimmy G.
Apparently it was an AFC team. Denver maybe…
Eagles signed QB Nate Sudfeld off their practice squad.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, another team forced the Eagles’ hand by trying to poach him. A sixth-round pick out of Indiana in 2016, Sudfeld will handle third-string duties behind starter Carson Wentz and backup Nick Foles.
Oh! Bloody! I know that one.
Bloody hell!
I thought it was bloody L?
Only if Laverne got her period on her L monogrammed panties.
Shirley, you can’t be serious.
Ha, don’t take any unnecessary Shotz at me.
Looking forward to seeing him play.
Papa John’s missing Q3 numbers – All your fault Goodell!
https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2017/10/24/nfl-concedes-that-national-anthem-protests-hurt.html
I guess we’re doing this again.
Nah but it did have some interesting information in the article itself besides the Papa John’s headline grabber.
I believe I saw last week that there were also major sponsors that indicated they would drop the NFL if players were mandated to stand, too. I’m sure there are fans that what follow suit if the NFL went that way. In such a hyper-partisan environment, they aren’t going to please everyone.
And I’m sure plenty that would love to jump in when the advertising spot opens up.
Likewise the NFL doesn’t need Papa John’s or the USAA.
worse ingredients / worse pizza.
When my sister moved to Michigan 20+ years ago, she was distraught over not having authentic Italian pizza shops. She has Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, and Dominoes. There are a few other pizza places, but they are horrible. Every time she comes home, the first thing her and her family do is go get pizza.
Much of the country has no idea whatsoever of how good pizza really is in the Northeast.
Yeah, you really learn to appreciate regional cuisine when you can’t get it.
I appreciate the savings I get from getting my food at the grocery store. Not as good as restaurant fare, but usually healthier and a WHOLE lot cheaper…
Lots of mom and pop/local joints are springing up in other places. You just have to stay away from the national chains. Most people dont give them a chance.
Those bloody Colts…!
????
Nevermind – they were the team that tried to poach Sudfeld.
I don’t blame them, that brisket guy sucks at quarterbacking.
MMmmh, me loves some brisket!
So do opposing defenses.
I can see Smallwood sitting as soon as Ajayi is ready. Maybe the coaches don’t like being up in the air week to week with players? I’d think you’d lose patience with a player who has nagging injuries. Barner is safe IMO, he’s a darn good return man. He’s also a built in RB backup. The coaches like Clement. Blount, no question, hes not sitting.
I see a new huge talking point is how the 9ers D exposed our offense and all it will take now is a balanced Offense with a good D to beat us. Uhhhh, no duh, that’s pretty much a good plan for any NFL team to have if they want to win games.
Yeah, all opposing defenses have to do is make it rain.
Josh Gordon gets reinstated the day after the trade deadline? That seems…intentional.
They could have moved him yesterday if they so wished.
But no one would have been interested yesterday. Goodall is saying, we will give you another chance, but only on the Browns.
I was reading a lot of stuff on twitter from writers saying they were pretty sure his hearing today with Goodell was going to be good news and that the Browns might move him in anticipation of that.
I still want Josh Gordon after all these years. Am I just hopeless?
I feel you. And the same. Wish him all the best of luck.
Brandon Graham needs to be very excited. He gets free runs at Osweiler while Many licks Watson is starting at RT.
You are talking about our most underrated D Liner ever? At least he made the mid season top 100 list (at #61), while Cox didn’t make that list at all. Lol
FYI: Wentz at #5, Ertz #24, Lane top 40.
LOL you mean the Bleacher Report thing? Who cares? When have they done anything worthwhile?
Besides, national guys only follow a couple teams at most and let stat lines do the rest of the work…
Check out Ajayi’s press conference today.
Man, somebody coached him up quick!
https://livestream.com/accounts/8109350/events/2963279/videos/165269100
WOW. He’s very likeable.
I have a friend who’s a loyal Dolphins fan who said that Gase didn’t appreciate the bounce-ability of JA. I was surprised to learn that seven games into the season neither Ajayi nor the Dolphins have scored a running TD. That is lame! I hope that changes for Ajayi real soon.
Brock gon’ get BROKE!! PHILLY PHILLY!!!
Sixers looking good tonight, Embiid and Simmons are going to be very very good for a long time.
So, I listen to philly sports radio when I’m commuting sometimes (again don’t judge me, Ike is actually pretty good) and I have to say, we are sooooo good at getting ahead of ourselves. The number of people talking super bowl right now is ridiculous. It’s not ridiculous to think we might be able to do it this year, but it is kind of ridiculous to be talking about it so much at this point, halfway through the year.
Obviously there’s a difference between the callers to 97.5 and WIP and people who post here, but I like to have a finger to the pulse of what the fanbase is thinking.
If we were to lose to the Broncos I think people would go right back to doom and gloom, despite being 7-2 at the bye, a record no one would have dared imagine before the season started.
I hope the offense is dialed in and ready to go, because that Broncos D is really good, Von Miller can wreck games, and the doubters will be out in force if we struggle.
PRO TIP: don’t listen to sports radio