Buccaneers at Dolphins: Five game-changing players for Week 11

Kenyan Drake

When the Dolphins traded Jay Ajayi a couple of weeks ago, second-year running back Kenyan Drake was suddenly the next man up. In the two games since, he has made some big plays. Between those two weeks, he has 151 rushing yards and a touchdown on 16 total carries. In Sunday’s game against the Bucs, he will be a major factor in determining what kind of day it will be. The Tampa Bay defense is fourteenth when it comes to rush defense. If the front seven can keep Drake down, things will be looking up for a unit prone to giving up a lot of points.

Drake is so important in Sunday’s game because if he can’t get going, the chances of Jay Cutler beating the Bucs on his own feel pretty slim. Cutler still has some football left in him, but he isn’t the type of quarterback that will be able to do everything on his own. Miami will need a balanced offensive attack on Sunday, meaning half of that responsibility falls on Drake. The Alabama product struggled early against Carolina in week ten, but a 66-yard rushing touchdown picked his day up a whole lot.

Drake can be a pass-catching threat out of the backfield, as evidenced by his six-catch game against Oakland two weeks ago. If the Bucs have Kwon Alexander or Lavonte David keyed in on him, though, they will have to feel pretty good about their chances of stopping him. And if they can stop him, it becomes that much more difficult for Cutler and his receivers to get anything going. Drake, for better or worse, could be a deciding factor in this game.