It has been a day since the gigantic shocker of the Jay Ajayi trade. We are all pissed off about losing the best running back that we have had in years. More pissed that we got only a 4th round pick for him. Now that we have had time to reflect, let us talk about why that trade might not have been a bad thing.
Remember opening day 2016 vs. Seattle? Do you remember who was told to stay home because he complained about not getting the starting job over Arian Foster? It was Jay Ajayi.
Coach Gase had been hinting to us that there were players in the locker room that where not behaving. Specifically, he said after the Ravens game –
“I don’t think it’s a retain information thing. It’s we’re not putting the work in. That’s what it comes down to. If you can’t remember it, you shouldn’t be in the NFL. At the end of the day, guys have got to actually take this stuff home and study it. They’re not going to just learn it all in meetings. We’ve got to find guys that will actually put forth effort to actually remember this stuff and really, it starts with our best players. We’ve got to stop trying to hit home runs all the time. How about take the 4 or 5 yards that we’re going to get? It comes down to everybody doing their job. If we actually start doing that, it might help. It’s on the running back. Do your job. That’s what you’ve got to do. It’s not hard.”
So now, the truth is out. Gase was referring to Jay Ajayi. The complaints from the coaching staff are numerous about Ajayi. He missed key blocks on passing plays, going for the 100 yard run on every play, not running through the holes that the line is opening, complaining in the locker room, and finally, not scoring a single rushing touchdown this season.
Outside the locker room, and to us fans he was the JTRAIN!!!! We love the JTRAIN. We loved it when he busted open for 20 yard runs. And we loved his whole shtick. Being from London and all, how cool. To all of you British Fin fans, all of you walking around with “23” jersey’s – sorry. We are sorry to see the JTRAIN leave the station.
But folks. It is not all doom. We have won 13 of our last 18 games. Not too shabby. Only 2 teams have a better 18 game record than that. The Dolphins started the 2017 season with 1 win, and 2 losses. We now have a 4 and 3 record and are still in the hunt for the playoffs. The Dolphins were in a worse spot in the 2016 season. We are much better than a 40-0 shutout. Yes, we now have to do it without Jay Ajayi. But, Damien Williams and Kenyan Drake are not that bad. And, they are team players. Yes, we do not have excellence at the QB position. But there has got to be a way, and I have full confidence in our coaching staff that it can be done.
Do we have problems? Absolutely. Do we still have inconsistencies on the O-Line that need correcting? YES. Do we have a new O-line coach that is going to sort that out? We hope. It is obvious that our management has that Bill Parcells thinking about building the team around the offensive line. When they perform great, our team performs great. On the O-line, we are close to getting back Ted Larsen. That should harden things up with Steen going on IR this week.
On defense, we also have TJ McDonald coming off of his suspension. On offense, we also have DeVante Parker returning to the field this week. That should give the offense that spark that is needed. Landry, Stills, and Parker out on the field together has got to be the best WR team in the league.
All of you people that are now saying “Gase is a fraud”, “Fire Gase” – WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!? Coach Gase is a bad ass. Do you remember the endorsements that he got from Peyton Manning, John Elway and others when he joined the Dolphins? Coach Gase is the real deal. He is our head coach to stay.
I have confidence that Gase will get to the root cause(s) of our additional issues. The Jay Ajayi issue was only the start. We have great players on our team. Gase knows it. We have a challenge at QB. Gase knows it. I have full confidence in him that he will make it right. I know that he has the team practicing all week, and watching game tape all night long. He is working his ass off 24/7 and wants nothing more than for this team to win. In the end, the Ajayi trade was for the best.
We have a big test coming on Sunday night against the Raiders. Raiders are coming off a loss against the Bills. This will be their second east coast games in as many weeks. They are tired. They have a losing record. This should be a cakewalk at home for Miami. The Dolphins CANNOT be a nationally televised embarrassment 2 weeks in a row. Let’s beat them Raiders so we can get all this funk behind us.
