Jay Ajayi Gives Miami Dolphins Much-Needed 1-2 Punch in Backfield

Jay Ajayi's NFL career is just over six months old, but it has already been filled with more ups and downs than any of the craziest roller coasters you can imagine. 

The Miami Dolphins drafted Ajayi out of Boise State in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL draft, and almost instantly, there were predictions that Ajayi would eventually usurp incumbent starter Lamar Miller as the No. 1 running back in the Dolphins offense.

After two games in the active lineup, the Dolphins have learned that they don't need Ajayi to be more than a complementary piece right now—although that could change if Miller leaves the fold after the 2015 season. The thing is, it was never completely clear that Ajayi would even serve as a complement. 

A tough training camp, complete with fumbles, pass-protection woes and a hamstring injury, saw Ajayi demoted to the No. 4 back on the depth chart behind Damien Williams and LaMichael James. He suffered a cracked rib in the Dolphins' preseason finale, which landed him on short-term injured reserve.

Fast forward to Week 10 of the regular season, and Ajayi is just finally starting to climb up out of the doldrums to make an impact. He was activated to the roster ahead of the Dolphins' Week 9 meeting with the Buffalo Bills, and in the two games since then, he has rushed the ball 11 times for 89 yards (8.1 yards per carry).

It's a small sample size, but Ajayi has shown a lot of explosiveness running with the ball and a lot of potential. That being said, there's still some work to do. 

"Ajayi is a young guy," head coach Dan Campbell said, according to Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post. "He's still up-and-coming. He's gotten better, but he still needs a lot of reps and overall from protection to blitz pickups, all those different things, to route running. Not that he can't do it, but right now we have a lot of faith in Lamar Miller. But certainly we like the way Jay runs."

And why wouldn't they like how he runs? He was a highly touted prospect in this year's draft class before there were sudden concerns about the health and durability of his knee. He also has the versatility to play in the passing game, with good hands and the willingness to pitch in as a pass-blocker.

That being said, those are all traits which Miller also possesses. 

That means that, for now, unless the Dolphins coaching staff decides otherwise, Miller will be the featured back and Ajayi will be his complement. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Miller (and his fantasy owners) probably won't be happy, though, as Ajayi's emergence likely ends all hope that Miller will break the 19-carry plateau that he's yet to hit since December 2013. 

For the past decade, the league has trended more and more toward the running-back-by-committee approach. Nearly every team employs some variation of it, whether it's several backs who have a similar skill set or a number of backs who each have their own individual skills for certain situations.

But as mentioned earlier, with Miller becoming a free agent in 2016, the Dolphins might soon be looking to fill the void. If Ajayi keeps playing the way he has played in the past two games, the Dolphins will have no choice but to get him more involved in their offensive game plan, which could ultimately lead to him being the feature back next year.