Dynasty Scouts Player Spotlight: Jay Ajayi
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Jay Ajayi, RB Boise State
Strengths: Size, speed, ability to break tackles and determination running the football
Weaknesses: Fumbling, blocking technique, vision/patience between the tackles
[inlinead]Everyone has an extreme low point in their life when everything seems to be closing in at once. Not sure where to turn, they either overcome or fold. Boise State running back Jay Ajayi was in one of those crucial moments in the fall of 2011. He was in the middle of his freshman season, when he was arrested for attempting to steal several pairs of sweatpants from Wal-Mart. The head coach decided not to kick him off the team, but it was close. Then to add injury to insult, Ajayi tore his ACL a week later. He could’ve easily packed it in and decided football just wasn’t for him. But he didn’t and from that moment on started making good decisions. It resulted in over 2,200 total yards at almost six yards per carry the last two seasons and he has even started getting some national attention.
Strengths
Standing at a chiseled 6 feet tall and weighing 216 pounds, Ajayi is an intimidating presence at running back. His running style will remind you of LeGarrette Blount or a bull that’s upset to have anyone around him. Ajayi will twist, spin, shove, swerve, and power his way through defenders. His determination to fight to get every yard is up there with anyone playing college football. It’s evident he uses his thick lower body to break tackles and fight for extra yardage.
http://youtu.be/Jb5NtwZ1iHI?t=23s
This is why you don’t want to be in front of a running bull.
http://youtu.be/Jb5NtwZ1iHI?t=40s
Unbelievable effort by Ajayi on this run, he doesn’t like to quit.
http://youtu.be/nJbd1yctaVo?t=27s
I didn’t like Ajayi’s vision on this play, as a hole was open to the left. However, he makes an incredible effort to break multiple tackles on the play.
http://youtu.be/nJbd1yctaVo?t=52s
I’m trying not to be redundant, but hopefully you can see his determination in running the football.
For being a bigger running back, Ajayi also has good speed in his arsenal. I would guess his timed 40-yard dash would be in the high 4.4 to low 4.5 range. If he gets an opening, he has good acceleration to quickly get to top speed and hit a crease or bounce it outside for a big gain.
http://youtu.be/nJbd1yctaVo?t=2m34s
Against BYU, Ajayi navigates his way to find a big opening in the defense and uses his speed to do the rest.
http://youtu.be/hxYxzcQK5Qw?t=4m44s
While the defender closed on him at the end, he has good speed for a big back.
http://youtu.be/nJbd1yctaVo?t=4m40s
The defender has the angle on Ajayi, but he definitely gave it a good shot to run past him.
He possesses good hands to catch passes out of the backfield and screens. He turned quite a few short passes into big gains because he’s very good in the open field.
Weaknesses
Ajayi also has some weaknesses to his game that need fine tuning before he enters the NFL. One of the most glaring is his fumble issues, which had him on the bench at times last year. His style in attempting to get every yard leads to more fumbles, in this way he will remind some of Adrian Peterson.
http://youtu.be/hxYxzcQK5Qw?t=3s
Carrying the football in the wrong arm will lead to multiple fumbles and decreases his yardage. If he would switch arms, he could use a stiff arm to get by defenders or at least fend them off for a little while longer.
http://youtu.be/02gaG-oONvE?t=3m
Two hands on the football in traffic, right? He needs to learn that not fumbling is more important than gaining every possible yard. But is that something he can change?
http://youtu.be/02gaG-oONvE?t=3m31s
Remember carrying the football in the wrong arm, here is the result sometimes and inside the five yard line.
This is the same play as the clip above when Ajayi fumbles. Another weakness he has is not being patient between the tackles. He has great vision on outside runs and when he has a hole. In fact, he thrives in space using his power and agility to gash defenses. But in close quarters he is too quick to give up on a play and do his own thing. Just a second into this run, the Air Force defense already has penetration (yellow circle). Thankfully his blocker is just going to wash him out of the play. The black arrow is the direction Ajayi is eventually going to run.
Two frames later and his blocker (yellow circle) completely blocks the defender out of the play. Another blocker (brown circle) fell down off a double team, but is getting up. The green circle is around a defender that is coming off a block and getting into the backfield. This leaves Ajayi with a decision on where to run with the football. Black arrow is where he decides and it’s the wrong decision. Number five for Air Force has maintained his outside leverage and is squeezing down the edge. Behind him are two completely unblocked defenders, so I’m not sure why Ajayi would run to the right here. The white arrow shows a clear lane with a blocker (brown circle) that could help him shortly after he gets up. The original play design was to the left and presents better matchups in the success of a run. We already know that Ajayi fumbles on this play, but I just wanted to show how a little patience could’ve resulted in a touchdown.
While Ajayi is a willing blocker, I wouldn’t classify him as a good blocker because he lacks technique and lunges too often. He’ll have to refine his technique to be a consistent three down running back in the NFL.
Devy Angle
Ajayi is a very good devy running back prospect. When you can combine big, fast, elusive, and determination, well that’s one heck of a player. If the running back class of 2015 wasn’t so stacked, Ajayi would be getting much more attention and therefore is going a bit under the radar. Use that to your advantage and pick him up as a value because he has a chance to be a good NFL player.
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Nick can be found on Twitter at @_NickWhalen
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