I'm Matt Weston a writer over at Battle Red Blog. Every week I have been writing a Power Rankings article where I write about four teams a week in depth. This week I wrote about the Dolphins and Jay Ajayi.





Jay Ajayi is for real. He has been like those skull melting gifs that get tweeted to Killer Mike and El-P every time they drop a new RTJ single.

Against Pittsburgh's 22nd run defense DVOA he had only 204 yards on 25 carries, 8.16 yards a carry, 2 touchdowns and a long of 62. And against the Bills 16th ranked run defense DVOA last week he had 214 yards on 29 carries, 7.37 yards a carry, 1 touchdown, and a long of 53. By rushing in back to back 200 yard games he joined Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, and O.J. Simpson as the only players to do so. He has a DVOA of 37.5%, which is better than every ranked quarterback other than Tom Brady. His DYAR, which measures total value, is second in the league with 156 even though he has just 85 carries. I repeat, he is second in the league in DYAR with only 85 carries. His yards by direction is LOL worthy. He is averaging 16 Y/C at the left end, 5.08 over LT, 5.24 up the middle, 10 over RT, and 19 on the right edge. Jay Ajayi has had the best two weeks ever and they should give CPR to and resuscitate that VH1 show just to talk about Ajayi.

These last two weeks haven't been some break out because of a brand new lease on life. All that has happened is he started to get carries instead of the recently retired Arian Foster (RIP Arian I <3 you so much). His rush attempts in every game this year were 0, 5, 7, 6, 13 and then BAM 25 and 29. It took him five weeks to get the chance to start pillaging and burning down defenses, but now that he has he's torched everything and turned it all into smoldering charred rubble.

Let's start this journey together with his 62 yard touchdown run against the Steelers. Gaze yee eyes on upon thee. It's the perfect encapsulation of why the last two weeks have gone the way that they have. Ajayi takes the hand off and hits the hole. There's no stuttering. No thinking. He lives in purely in the moment and becomes nothing other than a sack of skin carrying his legs forward. The hole opens and he goes. The offensive line has been incredible too. Here two offensive linemen get to the second level and stick on their blocks to allow him to run wild and free. And then once he goes, does he go. Here he outruns four tackles. He breaks one. But he outruns the corner, a linebacker, obliterates an arm tackle, and LOLs at the safety's pursuit angle.

With Ajayi it's not just about the big plays. He is a consistent and efficient runner. He trails only Ezekiel Elliot in success rate. 59% to his 55%. The biggest reason why is his acceleration and strength. Again, once he gets the ball he goes. His legs never stop moving. And when he takes on tackles he is the hammer and uses his strength and momentum to rumble forward. He is always moving and always picking up the extra yards.

The Dolphins are running an outside zone play to the right with the tight end sealing the backside. Ajayi stutters once to the left and shifts back to the middle. The linebacker shifts inside and swims past Mike Pouncey's block. He hits Ajayi head on. Ajayi puts him on his back, runs through his grasp, and leaps for extra yards, kind of like a Dolphin, to pick up four yards after contact. Ajayi hits the hole with impact and falls forward every time.

That consistent effort leads to extra batches of yards. These plays over time leads to plays like this. Where the constant turning and churning of legs morphs two yard runs into fat gains.

This is another outside zone play, the Dolphins staple run play, on first and ten. Mike Pouncey gets beat across his face by the nose tackle Corbin Bryant (#97). Ajayi stretches the run searching for a hole. When he sees the corner crash the outside of the play he cuts inside. He slithers through a crack. When he does this he meets half of Bryant. He laughs off his tackle, drops low and stays up right, and bounces the run outside. It's a beautiful display of balance.

Then he gets those legs moving again. He runs through the linebacker's tackle. And then through Kyle Williams's tackle as he comes from behind from the backside. As he gets close to the sideline he carries the cornerback out of bounds. Refusing to go down. On this play he turns a two yard run into eleven and breaks three tackles with a combination of vision, balance, speed, power, and drive. Good backs take what the offensive line gives them, accepts it , and moves on to the next play. Great and special players take what the offensive line gives them and turns it into so much more.

This isn't a player who survives on athleticism alone. He's smart and has X-Ray vision. Although it's only his second year in the league he is a nuanced runner.

The Dolphins are running power to the right. Right tackle Ja'Wan James is blocking down on the defensive end and drives him out of the hole. Right guard Jermon Bushrod and center Mike Pouncey block down too and seal off the backside. Tunsil then comes around and off of James's block. It's a perfect pull. Tunsil comes tight around the block, instead of fat and lazy, and he isn't perturbed by the slot receiver's block on the safety that comes across his face. His eyes never leave the linebacker. He's low and quick while still maintaining control. And when he gets there he packs a punch. He knocks the linebacker into next week, and continues to drive him backwards.

The nuance comes in how Ajayi sets this run up. He shuffles laterally before the hand off to give Tunsil time to pull. He doesn't try to out run Tunsil. He follows him and waits for him to make his block. When Tunsil is on the linebacker Ajayi is on his back. He follows him to the point of impact. Then once all the yards are soaked up he cuts back inside to the open field. And he falls forward for a few more, of course.

Then on this play he uses his vision to get more than what is on the table. Miami is running a counter play to the left. The backside cuts things off well. Tunsil does a great job getting to the second level, and in general is one of the best second level blockers I've seen this year. Pouncey covers the nose tackle, then continues his block as the nose tackle runs backwards, and smothers him into the grass. Brandon Albert drives the defensive end inside all on his own. The pullers all do their job. Together the entire offensive line creates a red parted sea.

Ajayi has a huge hole here. But the vision is remarkable. He runs vertical to the safety, cuts behind Tunsil, then gets horizontal, and runs diagonally across the defense through the secondary. He sees things no one else sees. Along the way he carries four defenders with him for a first down and more.

Of course it is not all because of Ajayi. The Dolphins offensive line has been so good on the ground this season. They are third in adjusted line yards with 4.43, and are among the best in the league at blocking at every part of the line except for the middle where they rank 21st in adjusted line yards. James and Albert are one of the best exterior run blocking duos in the league. They can make one v. one blocks and drive defensive ends. Mike Pouncey is undersized and can get driven back in one on one blocks, but he is so quick and so good at reaching outside shoulders and blocking linebackers. Laremy Tunsil is this year's best rookie offensive lineman and one of the best guards in the game already. Gas mask bong was the best thing to happen to the Dolphins last offseason. And Bushrod is as average as they come, but he gets the job done.

They move the line of scrimmage vertically on outside zone plays, which is something you rarely consistently see. Laremy Tunsil has a great deuce with Brandon Albert. He punches the defensive tackle and combines his force with with Albert to take him down. He does all of this with his eyes on the second level. And without effort he gets to the linebacker's inside shoulder and seals him off from the running back. Ja'wan James makes an awesome one v. one block. He gets his head on the inside shoulder. Turns the defensive end and uses his body to shield him from the ball. He drives him back. Then once he starts to lose him at the end of the run he dips like a spaceship and cuts him down. Bushrod gets in the way, which is good enough. Except for Jermon Bushrod their entire offensive line is quick and strong and fluid and seamlessly transfers from the first to the second level. A sentence that is exactly what you want when you are an outside zone running team.

The run game is based on two things. The yards the offensive line creates and how much extra the running back is able churn after those yards. And right now the offensive line is blocking the outside zone better than any team I have seen this year and Ajayi is taking those 4.43 yards and turning it into so much more.

Yeah, so back to earlier, Ajayi and this Dolphins run game is for real.