I have to post this - Ayers is going to be a beast!

I’m excited that he’s out there so much in key situations on a defense that’s playing so well. That alone says a lot, i don’t care about his statline. He still has a lot to learn though and will get better as you said.

One of my favorite plays from yesterday was when he was lined-up wrong and Dre and DJ got him in place just as the ball was snapped and he proceeded to blow up the backfield. Pretty cool.

It almost doesnt matter who starts now. They have quality LBs who can do nothing but make plays no matter who is on the field and no matter the down and distance.

Everyone is a contributor which is what is making it all so effective. Nothing they are doing is based on the performance of one individual, ala Merriman, but rather on the entire group of 8 all playing with purpose.

Give him a couple of years and he’ll be throttling offenses.

I don’t care who starts and I don’t care who rotates in. They’re all playing like champs, and that’s what wins games – team qualtiy

I would second everyone above regarding the playing as a team. And I would say the concept died under the previous regime at about the same time that Shanny benched Bubby Brister or thereabouts. Sure, guys like Al Wilson did their damndest to recreate that atmosphere and spark, but after Al went down, I never saw anyone else pick up the torch. This is fun, but it’s a long season – let’s keep it going guys!
Go Broncs!

There may have been some hesitancy to embrace the Ayers’ pick among Bronco fandom but most people were merely silent — because they didn’t know about him. The idea of picking a DL was certainly popular, which helped blunt potential criticism of the pick, but few people had considered him in particular.

My impression of Ayers was formed by watching him in all-star competition, where he shined. The best way to get an insight into a player’s ability is (often) to look at his performance in drills against the best talent in college, and Ayers was an animal in one-on-one drills against OLs such as Andre Smith. I was also very impressed with how well he moved in positional drills. These aren’t things that you can explain to others easily, as the proof is in the eye, but I recall seeing him run, when I wasn’t aware of who he was, and thinking “who’s that?” and “wouldn’t it be great if we could get that guy!” And these are significant observations since I rarely react that way.

Part of what kept Ayers off the radar — at least, except in the analyses of the “Mini-Kipers” who eat and drink this stuff — was the fact that he was projected as a DE43. The position of DE is hard to project because it’s a grab bag of smaller, pass rushing specialists and bigger athletes who fit the somatotype of traditional defensive linemen. Because of this, ratings of DEs tend to be very misleading. And even the better sources, such as Scott Wright’s Draft Countdown, aren’t much better at informing readers about the intricacies of projecting players and the utility of BPA ratings.

Here’s an OLD TOPIC that shows what some of us were saying about Ayers before the draft.

The specific abilities that DE/OLBs bring to the table make them hard to evaluate (both in the draft and on the field). I’ve used Parys Haralson as an example of how we might use Ayers at OLB but it’s an inadequate comparison when describing his usage as a situational DL. Pass rushing ability is only a small part of how he fits in there, and his bull rushing ability (collapsing the pocket and occupying blockers) is a more important contribution than most people understand, since he enables other players (note the difference between Dumervil’s sack total last year and this year).

Finally, this is a good article on the differences between DEs. The point, which I can’t emphasize enough, is that you can’t generalize about DEs and draw meaningful conclusions. In order to say something meaningful, you need to understand how a DE/OLB is used (specifically) and the scheme that he’s in. Rarely do the pompous pundits who pontificate on the subject display that level of knowledge.