Fantasy Football News: Jay Ajayi Breaks Rib, Heads To Injured Reserve
Fantasy football news is bad for owners with Jay Ajayi. The Miami Dolphins placed Ajayi on injured reserve, where he will reside for the first eight weeks of the 2015 NFL season. A report from NBC Sports relays the bad news about Ajayi. He broke a rib in the final preseason game for the Dolphins, forcing him to the sidelines as the injury heals. Placing him on injured reserve means the Dolphins cannot let him return to game action until Week 9.
The is a really tough break for Ajayi, as he went into the 2015 NFL Draft with a lot of question marks about his knee, but seemed to be ready to be an impact player for the Dolphins this season. His knee held up just find in the preseason and he was putting together some very nice numbers. In Week 4 alone, he had 66 rushing yards on just nine carries and an additional 37 receiving yards on two catches. Now his reward for that performance is two months of inaction.
This fantasy football news is even tougher for Jay Ajayi fans, because he had looked good all through the preseason. He finished with 91 rushing yards on just 16 carries, working out to an average of 5.7 yards per carry. Ajayi also caught four passes for 41 yards, showing that he was ready to be a weapon in the passing game as well. The only positive to take away from this injury news is that he will have a lot of reserve energy saved up for the second half of the season.
There is a definite lack of depth for the Miami Dolphins at running back. The team has Lamar Miller ready to get a lot of carries, with Damien Williams and LaMichael James as the backups. James had a good preseason, rushing for 95 yards on just 19 carries, while Williams managed just 53 yards on 17 carries. Those are averages of 5.0 yards per carry for James and 3.1 yards per carry for Williams. Williams did score a touchdown in the preseason, while James did not.
In the world of fantasy football, Lamar Miller just became even more valuable. He has one less backup trying to take carries away from him, suggesting that another 1,000-yard could be in front of him. During the 2014 NFL season, Miller rushed for 1,099 yards on just 216 carries, putting up an impressive 5.1 yards per carry. Miami Dolphins fans will have to enjoy that output until Jay Ajayi returns from injured reserve. By that point, Ajayi could be a huge asset in deeper fantasy football leagues.
[Image Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images]
