Jay Ajayi

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was ranked as the 41st best running back prospect of his class.

Jay Ajayi (born 15 June 1993) is an English-born former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons with the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles.

Ajayi was born in London, England, on 15 June 1993, to Nigerian parents and moved to Maryland in the United States when he was seven years old in 2000.

He eventually moved to Texas, where he attended Frisco Liberty High School.

As a senior on the football team, he rushed for 2,240 yards and had 35 touchdowns.

He also earned one varsity letter in track & field as a member of the 4 × 400-meter (3:21.75), 4 × 200 m (1:29.44), and 4 × 100 m (42.86) district championship teams.

Ajayi attended and played college football for Boise State from 2011 to 2014.

He was redshirted as a freshman at Boise State University in 2011.

In October 2011, he was arrested for shoplifting after stealing a pair of sweatpants at a local Walmart and was later sentenced to five days in jail.

As a redshirt freshman in 2012, he played in 11 games.

He had 82 rushes for 548 yards and four touchdowns, including 118 yards and a touchdown on just six carries against New Mexico in his second career game.

As a sophomore in 2013, he started 12 of 13 games and rushed for 100+ yards in six of them, including 24 carries for 222 yards and three touchdowns in game seven against Nevada.

He ended the season having carried the ball 249 times for 1,425 yards and 18 touchdowns.

As a junior in 2014, he became the first Boise State player to rush for 100+ yards in 10 games in a season, including two 200+ yard performances against Colorado State and Utah State.

He ended his season with a 134-yard, three touchdown performance in the Broncos' 38–30 victory over the Arizona Wildcats in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.

He finished the season ranked fifth in the nation with a school-record 1,823 rushing yards and second nationally only to Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon with 28 rushing touchdowns (also a school record).

On 21 December 2014, Ajayi announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2015 NFL draft.

He finished his collegiate career with 678 rushes for 3,796 yards and 50 rushing touchdowns, which ranked third, third, and tied for second on the Boise State career lists.

He is the only player in Boise State history with three games of 200+ yards rushing.

He was the 14th of 22 running backs selected in that year's draft.

He played college football at Boise State University and was selected by the Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL draft.

Ajayi finished his final season at Boise State having accounted for 41.3% of the team's total yards and touchdowns, third among running back prospects entering the 2015 NFL draft, trailing only Melvin Gordon and Indiana's Tevin Coleman.

He was named a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection for the second consecutive season and earned third-team All-American honors by the Associated Press.

Ajayi was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL draft with the 149th overall pick by the Miami Dolphins (traded from the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for Mike Wallace).

On 7 May 2015, the Dolphins signed him to a four-year, $2.50 million rookie contract, which included a signing bonus of $220,813.

On 6 September 2015, Ajayi was placed on injured reserve/designated to return due to broken ribs he suffered in the Dolphins' last exhibition game.

On 8 November 2015, he made his NFL debut against the Buffalo Bills and rushed five times for 41 yards (8.2 average).

He scored his first professional touchdown against the San Diego Chargers in a 30–14 defeat.

He finished his rookie season with 49 carries for 187 yards (3.8 average) and one touchdown.

He also recorded seven receptions for 90 yards.

After the Dolphins lost starting running back Lamar Miller to the Houston Texans via free agency, Ajayi was appointed the de facto starter going into the season.

However, he was declared the backup after free agent running back Arian Foster supplanted him as the starter during training camp.

After growing disgruntled, head coach Adam Gase deactivated him for the season opener and Ajayi was left in Miami as the team traveled for a road game against the Seattle Seahawks.

He was activated the following week and had five carries for 14 yards against the New England Patriots after Foster was sidelined in the second half due to a groin injury.

After Foster's injury and eventual in-season retirement, Ajayi settled into a role as the Dolphins' lead running back.

Ajayi followed up a Week 6 204-yard and two touchdown performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 214-yard and one touchdown effort against AFC East the rival Buffalo Bills in Week 7, becoming only the fourth player in NFL history along with O. J. Simpson (twice), Earl Campbell, and former Miami Dolphin Ricky Williams to rush for over two hundred yards in two consecutive games.

Ajayi was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week two weeks in a row for his 200+ rushing yards in back-to-back games in Weeks 6 and 7.

Ajayi spent three seasons with the Dolphins, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2016, before being traded to Philadelphia during the 2017 season.

As a member of the Eagles, Ajayi was a member of the team that won the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl LII.

He struggled with injuries afterwards, leading to his 2022 retirement.