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Dolphins rookie RB Jay Ajayi, despite knee concern, might have enough juice to become starter
Dolphins Running Back Jay Ajayi on knee injury: "I'm healthy, I feel great"
By Chris Perkins
Sun Sentinel
It seems too good to be true that Jay Ajayi, the pickle-juice guzzling multi-purpose running back from Boise State, fell to the Dolphins in the fifth round of the draft..
Here's a guy who, at 6-0, and a solid 218 pounds, could be a prototypical workhorse, three-down NFL back.
In fact, there's a chance Ajayi (pronounced Ah-jah-ee) serves that exact role with the Dolphins while veteran Lamar Miller, who rushed for 1,099 yards last season, becomes the change-of-pace guy.
If that happens, the Dolphins might end up with the steal of the draft.
Last season, Ajayi, using his combination of rugged running and soft hands, became the first player in major college football history to rush for more than 1,800 yards and have more than 500 yards receiving.
He seemed a lock to be a second-round pick.
"And then everybody kind of got wigged out about the knee," said Kent Riddle, the former running backs coach at Boise State who now coaches tight ends.
Ajayi, who didn't wear a knee brace or any type of supportive gear during the Dolphins' two-day rookie camp that concluded Saturday, sustained a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his right knee as a true freshman at Boise State in 2011.
Although he said the surgically-repaired knee never caused him problems over the following three seasons, a report leaked that NFL teams believe the knee is rapidly losing cartilage. Ajayi's knee is a ticking time bomb, according to the thinking of some teams.
Riddle doesn't get it. He said he told every team that inquired that Ajayi never missed a practice, a drill, a game, nothing, because of his knee. Riddle admitted they'd sometimes limit Ajayi in practice. But he said that had nothing to do with his knee.
"It had to do with he had to carry the ball 30 times a game, and he was getting plenty of his reps on Saturdays," Riddle said. "He didn't need them on Tuesday as much."
Ajayi, who was born in London to Nigerian parents, moved to the U.S. in 2000. Ajayi, who speaks with a bit of a British accent, quickly gained football fame at Frisco Liberty High School, about 30 miles north of Dallas.
He committed to Boise State after his junior year, when he rushed for 1,627 yards and 20 touchdowns. During his senior season, when he rushed for 2,240 yards and 35 touchdowns, the big boys came calling – Texas A&M, Baylor, Nebraska. Ajayi never wavered from his commitment to Boise State.
"I think that speaks to the character of the kid," said Galen Zimmerman, his coach at Liberty High School.
Ajayi redshirted as a freshman at Boise State. The following season he rushed for 548 yards, second-best on the team, and averaged a school-record 6.68 yards per carry. As a sophomore in 2013, he rushed for 1,425 yards and 18 touchdowns, including six 100-yard games.
Around that time Ajayi began drawing comparisons to another well-known Boise State running back – Doug Martin, who rushed for 1,454 yards as a rookie in 2012 for Tampa Bay.
"I would place Jay right there with Doug," said Bob Behler, the Boise State play-by-play radio voice for the last seven seasons.
Of course, Ajayi became known for something aside from his ball-carrying prowess in the 2013 season.
During a game against Air Force, TV cameras caught Ajayi chugging pickle juice on the sideline to ward off leg cramps.
And here's the thing: those thick dill pickles were still in the jar. It looked ridiculous.
"At the time I was cramping bad," Ajayi said, "and they just handed me the jar and I was just like, boom."
The humorous episode got national attention.
"I got a lot of texts from a lot of friends making fun of me with pictures and memes and stuff like that," he said.
After that, Ajayi learned to conceal his magic elixir in a sports drink bottle.
"So no one ever really knew when I was taking the pickle juice," he said.
Ajayi, still powered by pickle juice, went on to rush for 1,823 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior and record 50 receptions for 535 yards and four touchdowns.
Ajayi decided to leave Boise State after his redshirt junior season.
But NFL personnel couldn't get past his supposedly ailing right knee. Ajayi said he went through all the standard medical procedures at the NFL Scouting Combine. He said he told teams he had knee surgery in 2011. He said when they asked if he missed any games he told them he hadn't. He thought that was the end of it.
"So when those reports came out before the draft and everything it was kind of a shock to me," he said.
Regardless, the Dolphins are glad they have him.
"He's a big guy," coach Joe Philbin said after Friday's opening rookie camp practice. "I like the size, number one, I like his production on tape, number two. He's very enthusiastic. He seems very eager out here."
Ajayi is guessing the Dolphins will have something more sophisticated than pickle juice to help him stave off leg cramps.
"But I might still end up still using that," he warned. "You never know."
The only thing he knows for sure is his right knee isn't a problem.
"Absolutely not," he declared. "I'm healthy, I feel great, and I'm just focused on doing whatever I can out here to help this team win a championship."
-------------
It will really suck ass if he ends up starting for Miami and while got a backup Hitchens clone.
Dolphins Running Back Jay Ajayi on knee injury: "I'm healthy, I feel great"
By Chris Perkins
Sun Sentinel
It seems too good to be true that Jay Ajayi, the pickle-juice guzzling multi-purpose running back from Boise State, fell to the Dolphins in the fifth round of the draft..
Here's a guy who, at 6-0, and a solid 218 pounds, could be a prototypical workhorse, three-down NFL back.
In fact, there's a chance Ajayi (pronounced Ah-jah-ee) serves that exact role with the Dolphins while veteran Lamar Miller, who rushed for 1,099 yards last season, becomes the change-of-pace guy.
If that happens, the Dolphins might end up with the steal of the draft.
Last season, Ajayi, using his combination of rugged running and soft hands, became the first player in major college football history to rush for more than 1,800 yards and have more than 500 yards receiving.
He seemed a lock to be a second-round pick.
"And then everybody kind of got wigged out about the knee," said Kent Riddle, the former running backs coach at Boise State who now coaches tight ends.
Ajayi, who didn't wear a knee brace or any type of supportive gear during the Dolphins' two-day rookie camp that concluded Saturday, sustained a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his right knee as a true freshman at Boise State in 2011.
Although he said the surgically-repaired knee never caused him problems over the following three seasons, a report leaked that NFL teams believe the knee is rapidly losing cartilage. Ajayi's knee is a ticking time bomb, according to the thinking of some teams.
Riddle doesn't get it. He said he told every team that inquired that Ajayi never missed a practice, a drill, a game, nothing, because of his knee. Riddle admitted they'd sometimes limit Ajayi in practice. But he said that had nothing to do with his knee.
"It had to do with he had to carry the ball 30 times a game, and he was getting plenty of his reps on Saturdays," Riddle said. "He didn't need them on Tuesday as much."
Ajayi, who was born in London to Nigerian parents, moved to the U.S. in 2000. Ajayi, who speaks with a bit of a British accent, quickly gained football fame at Frisco Liberty High School, about 30 miles north of Dallas.
He committed to Boise State after his junior year, when he rushed for 1,627 yards and 20 touchdowns. During his senior season, when he rushed for 2,240 yards and 35 touchdowns, the big boys came calling – Texas A&M, Baylor, Nebraska. Ajayi never wavered from his commitment to Boise State.
"I think that speaks to the character of the kid," said Galen Zimmerman, his coach at Liberty High School.
Ajayi redshirted as a freshman at Boise State. The following season he rushed for 548 yards, second-best on the team, and averaged a school-record 6.68 yards per carry. As a sophomore in 2013, he rushed for 1,425 yards and 18 touchdowns, including six 100-yard games.
Around that time Ajayi began drawing comparisons to another well-known Boise State running back – Doug Martin, who rushed for 1,454 yards as a rookie in 2012 for Tampa Bay.
"I would place Jay right there with Doug," said Bob Behler, the Boise State play-by-play radio voice for the last seven seasons.
Of course, Ajayi became known for something aside from his ball-carrying prowess in the 2013 season.
During a game against Air Force, TV cameras caught Ajayi chugging pickle juice on the sideline to ward off leg cramps.
And here's the thing: those thick dill pickles were still in the jar. It looked ridiculous.
"At the time I was cramping bad," Ajayi said, "and they just handed me the jar and I was just like, boom."
The humorous episode got national attention.
"I got a lot of texts from a lot of friends making fun of me with pictures and memes and stuff like that," he said.
After that, Ajayi learned to conceal his magic elixir in a sports drink bottle.
"So no one ever really knew when I was taking the pickle juice," he said.
Ajayi, still powered by pickle juice, went on to rush for 1,823 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior and record 50 receptions for 535 yards and four touchdowns.
Ajayi decided to leave Boise State after his redshirt junior season.
But NFL personnel couldn't get past his supposedly ailing right knee. Ajayi said he went through all the standard medical procedures at the NFL Scouting Combine. He said he told teams he had knee surgery in 2011. He said when they asked if he missed any games he told them he hadn't. He thought that was the end of it.
"So when those reports came out before the draft and everything it was kind of a shock to me," he said.
Regardless, the Dolphins are glad they have him.
"He's a big guy," coach Joe Philbin said after Friday's opening rookie camp practice. "I like the size, number one, I like his production on tape, number two. He's very enthusiastic. He seems very eager out here."
Ajayi is guessing the Dolphins will have something more sophisticated than pickle juice to help him stave off leg cramps.
"But I might still end up still using that," he warned. "You never know."
The only thing he knows for sure is his right knee isn't a problem.
"Absolutely not," he declared. "I'm healthy, I feel great, and I'm just focused on doing whatever I can out here to help this team win a championship."
-------------
It will really suck ass if he ends up starting for Miami and while got a backup Hitchens clone.
