Larry Csonka sees a little John Riggins in Jay Ajayi

Pittsburgh Steelers v Miami Dolphins

Dolphins great Larry Csonka got an up-close look at Jay Ajayi from the sideline Sunday when the Dolphins beat the Bills 28-25 at Miami.

The current Dolphins running back became just the fourth player to run for more than 200 yards in back-to-back games. Csonka, a Hall of Fame running back, won’t compare Ajayi with himself, but he did bring up another Hall of Famer.

“I would say, you remember a guy named John Riggins?” Csonka said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “He just had a way of seeing it coming, because of his good peripheral vision, and at the last minute he would go the opposite direction or cut back underneath it. Those in-tight moves, almost basketball moves, I see some of those (in Ajayi). That makes me think about Riggins. He had that.”

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 21: Miami Dolphins greats (L to R) Dan Marino Don Shula and Larry Csonka are shown on the field before the Dolphins met the Minnesota Vikings in a game at Sun Life Stadium on December 21, 2014 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)

This isn’t the first time Ajayi has been mentioned in the company of some great backs. Only Earl Campbell, O.J. Simpson and Ricky Williams ran for 200 yards in two straight games before Ajayi.

Csonka added, however, that Ajayi has to keep up the good work to continue to earn such a lofty comparison. Before Week 6, the 2015 fifth-round pick had never even gained 50 yards in a game.

The Dolphins started the season 1-4, and Ajayi’s surge has coincided with their two-game winning streak. The Dolphins haven’t had a winning season since 2008, and Csonka has gone through a lot of televisions watching them.

“In the last eight years I’ve destroyed at least seven or eight TV sets trying to watch the Dolphins,” Csonka said.

It’s a good thing the Dolphins beat the Bills, because with no TV within reach on the sideline Csonka might have broken a down marker over his knee if the Dolphins had lost.

[Pro Football Talk]
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