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Williamson: 3 reasons for Jay Ajayi's sudden breakout

Joel Auerbach / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns, and spent the last 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast."

The Miami Dolphins have won back-to-back games to bring their record to 3-4 as they enter their Week 8 bye. Obviously the story here is Jay Ajayi racking up over 200 yards on the ground in each of those victories. He has simply been outstanding. Can it keep up? Of course not at this insane level, but there is much reason for optimism.

Things are starting to really fall into place for Adam Gase's offense and is allowing Ryan Tannehill, who only had to attempt 25 passes on Sunday and hasn't thrown an interception since Week 5, to evolve slowly and properly. The Dolphins are building something.

Opportunity

It was about time Miami realized Ajayi is its best running back. Remember, this is a guy that didn't even travel with the Dolphins in Week 1 to Seattle and apparently spent some time in Miami's new head coach's doghouse. Also, if you recall, the Dolphins signed C.J. Anderson to an offer sheet during free agency and drafted Kenyon Drake in the third round. They also signed Arian Foster before the year.

They can say what they want now, but there is no way this team viewed Ajayi as a feature back when Gase took over. Ajayi only carried the ball 49 times as a rookie. But the second-year runner has now been given 53 carries over these past two games and has averaged 8.2 and 7.6 yards per carry in those wins over Pittsburgh and its suspect run defense and Buffalo, a defense that has been difficult to run on.

Not only has Ajayi been putting up video game numbers, but he has also run with more aggression and conviction, much as he did at Boise State, than at any point of his NFL career. He is far more comfortable and patient as well, and is making more tacklers miss now than ever. Ajayi is a former soccer player with very good feet for a man his size and this might be his greatest single quality. He is getting just a ton of yardage after contact, which is a sign of a great runner.

Coming out of college, there wasn't much doubt about Ajayi's abilities. He has size, power, agility, change of direction, and feature back traits. He fell to the fifth round of the 2015 draft for one reason: concern about his knee. Now, who is to say if those concerns will arise sooner than later or cut Ajayi's career short, but the fact is that Miami absolutely must ride Ajayi in the meantime. Clearly he is the Dolphins' most talented ball-carrier.

Improved Blocking

Although Miami has players that are better off at tackle playing guard, with first-round pick Laremy Tunsil as the obvious example, there is a lot of talent up front. Tunsil is immensely talented and only fell to the Dolphins in the first round because of events surrounding him on draft day and questions about him off the field. He is the prototypical left tackle in every way, but is a work in progress at guard.

Well, Tunsil is improving at his new position - even though there is a legitimate question if it just wouldn't have been the wiser move to put the prized prospect at left tackle from the start and have Brandon Albert, who played guard in college, move inside. But Albert was also a first-round pick and has been a very good player in this league at his best and healthiest.

Jermon Bushrod has also been a tackle for most of his career and is also undergoing a position switch. These things take time. Health here is the key. Against Pittsburgh in Week 6 was the first time Miami was able to have its projected starting line available all at the same time. And we saw the results.

This also goes for Mike Pouncey, who not only is one of the NFL's best centers, but is also the leader of this unit and very adept with the calls and adjustments needed to be made. We saw a revolving door of ineptitude at the center position while Pouncey was out with his hip injury. This unit is really playing well now, excelled in protection against the Bills, and considering their level of talent, it shouldn't be unexpected.

Better Game Scripts

Miami has a lot invested in its defensive line. Mario Williams, Cameron Wake, and especially Ndamukong Suh are playing up to their paychecks. Miami's back seven on defense will miss Reshad Jones a great deal, but they are also playing above expectations of late. But it is the defensive line that is making all the difference on this side of the ball and getting Miami's defense off the field and wreaking havoc.

Of course, it is a symbiotic relationship, though. Those big guys on Miami's defense surely are very happy Ajayi is running the way he is, too, as it makes their jobs much easier. This group has dominated the line of scrimmage the past two weeks and was constantly getting after Ben Roethlisberger and especially Tyrod Taylor this past week.

Even considering LeSean McCoy's injury situation, the Bills' highly productive running game had nowhere to go because of the work by Miami's defensive line.

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