How the Dolphins offense has improved after Ajayi trade in one chart
When the Dolphins dealt running back Jay Ajayi to the Eagles on Halloween, fans were angry and analysts were apoplectic.
How does the arguably the league’s worst offense have any chance to get better after dealing arguably its best player for a mid-round draft pick?
And if you judge solely by wins and losses, the trade does not look great. The Dolphins were 4-3 with Ajayi and 0-3 without him.
But Miami’s recent swoon has more to do with defensive regression than offensive issues.
In fact, in five major statistics, the Dolphins have performed better (in some cases, appreciably so) without Ajayi than with him.
Before Ajayi trade | After Ajayi trade | |||
Stat | Ranking | Category | Ranking | Stat |
252.4 yards per game | 32nd | Total offense | 8th | 385.3 yards per game |
176.0 yards per game | 30th | Passing offense | 2nd | 295.7 yards per game |
76.4 yards per game | 31st | Rushing offense | 24th | 89.7 yards per game |
13.1 points per game | 32nd | Scoring offense | 14th | 21.7 points per game |
16 | T-12th | Sacks allowed | T-4th | 2 |
29.5 percent | 31st | Third-down offense | 5th | 48.6 percent |
Causation or correlation?
That’s up to you to decide.
Adam H. Beasley: 305-376-3565, @AdamHBeasley
This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 9:48 AM with the headline "How the Dolphins offense has improved after Ajayi trade in one chart."