How good will Akeem Ayers be

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  • June 24, 2015 at 12:45 pm #26715
    Herzog
    Participant

    When the Rams first signed Akeem Ayers, I thought he was just the latest toy in Greg Williams blitz crazy philosophy. Another specialist type of player with little starting value. Well, I guess things were a little slower at work today, so I finally looked him up.
    Turns out the guy was a good outside linebacker for Tennessee in his first and second year in the league. As a rookie he led all Titan linebackers with 88 tackles. In his second year, he had 110 tackles and 6 freaking sacks (which was second on the team).
    I don’t know what happened in his third year, I was hoping one of you all could help me out with that. His production dropped considerably. He did have a change in his linebackers coach. Great news is that Frank Bush was his linebackers coach when he was productive, so we might have us a really good all around linebacker here.

    All of a sudden, the Rams linebacking core of Ayers, Ogletree, Laurinitis sounds like a team strength.

    thoughts?

    June 24, 2015 at 1:40 pm #26717
    zn
    Moderator

    A quick search tells me that Ayers fell out of favor in 2014 with then new Titans coach Whisenhunt. He also had offseason surgery on both knees.

    Here’s something about 2013:

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    http://www.tennessean.com/story/titansinsider/2014/06/02/titans-nfl-tennessee-sports-nashville-akeem-ayers/9877161/

    Ayers said he played through the injuries last year. He played in all 16 games, starting 14, but recorded career lows in tackles (56), sacks (one) and quarterback pressures (four).

    “It was actually pretty bad even before the season started,” he said. “I didn’t know the severity of the injury until pretty much after the season. I pretty much thought it was soreness or pain that would eventually go away.

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    Here’s something from an article from early 2014:

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    http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2014/10/03/tennessee-titans-akeem-ayers-nfl-cleveland-browns/16664993/

    A second-round draft pick by the Titans in 2011 out of UCLA, Ayers was a regular starter in his first three seasons. He started 44 of 48 games from 2011-13 and even posted a triple-digit tackle total (110) in his second NFL season.

    He’s been an invisible man under a skeptical new coaching staff this season, however. Ayers hasn’t dressed out the past two weeks and has played just once all season. He’s champing at the bit to get back on the field.

    …

    Ayers clearly has something to prove to his new coaches. They weren’t impressed with the film they saw from Ayers last season, and he hasn’t blown them away in the past eight months either. Ayers dealt with knee injuries a year ago, which he acknowledges limited his production.

    “When he gets his opportunity we expect to see production, and see him compete. I’m expecting consistency,” Whisenhunt said. “The only way he is going to get back on the field is if that happens. He needs to be consistent in his approach and not making mistakes. … (Whether he plays) is really going to be up to him as far as how he prepares and does on the practice field.”

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