Philadelphia Eagles running back Jay Ajayi has previously expressed his excitement at becoming his team’s workhorse back once again. His position coach, Duce Staley, has sensed his excitement about “being able to be that guy.” Staley also revealed that there’s somebody else who’s looking forward to the prospect of him being the lead back.

“I'm pretty sure that Jay is excited about being able to go out there and dominate and being able to be that guy,” assistant head coach/running backs Duce Staley said per the team’s official website. “I know Doug (Pederson) is excited about it also. We'll see.”

Staley also notes how incredible Ajayi’s attitude has been ever since coming over midseason from the Miami Dolphins last year. Ajayi had 408 yards in 70 with a touchdown in his seven regular-season games with the Eagles in 2017 and also contributed to their playoff run all the way to the Super Bowl.

But with last year’s leading rusher, LeGarrette Blount, moving on to the Detroit Lions, Ajayi will once again get the chance to reprise his role as the workhorse for the Dolphins. Ajayi was amazing in his lone season playing that role. In 2016, he ran for 1,272 yards on 260 carries and scored eight touchdowns as he earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.

It remains to be seen if Ajayi will once again that same type of tremendous workload in Philly. The Eagles have a host of other capable running backs behind him in the depth chart in Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood, and Darren Sproles. But at the very least, he will get the lion’s share of the reps as “they guy” on the defending champs.