Ayers’ arrival brings clarity to Broncos’ critical front seven

Now that Robert Ayers has officially joined the team, the Magic Eye puzzle that is the Broncos 2009 defense is starting to shift into view. If you can’t see it at first, don’t worry — you’re not alone. But the picture should become much clearer with the training camp addition of the 18th overall pick.

Ayers’ arrival has helped snap a few veteran pieces into their positional slots, and for the first time we might have learned at least part of the secret of Mike Nolan’s front seven.

The rookie DE/OLB out of Tennessee was excited yesterday. Almost as excited as the fans that have been waiting with crossed fingers since April 25th – the day Ayers became part of the replacement package Denver selected in exchange for former quarterback Jay Cutler.

“It feels good. I feel like I’m part of the team now, so I’m happy to be here,” Ayers said.

But where exactly is “here”? Ayers is expected to fill a hybrid role in what looks to be a hybrid version of the 3-4 defense, a specialty of new defensive coordinator Nolan. It should be a more seamless transition that it would appear. Coming out of high school, the 6-foot-3, 274-pound rookie was recruited by Tennessee as a linebacker but quickly added some bulk in an effort to move down and play end in the Volunteers’ 4-3 scheme. And Nolan wasn’t concerned with Ayers’ ability to step in on day five of training camp and contribute immediately.

“He had the minicamps. He had the OTAs. So he is familiar with all the language and everything we’re doing. But I don’t think he’s that far behind. He’ll pick it up pretty quick. He’s a bright guy, and like I said, he’s familiar with it. So we’ll see.”

Getting Ayers on the field was crucial, but he won’t be handed a starting role. Tim Crowder, Darrell Reid, Elvis Dumervil and even Jarvis Moss are all competing for the chance to play the integral rush linebacker role in the new look. But Ayers feels like his missed time has been an opportunity to motivate himself and stay in shape.

“Any day, any hour, any workout – anything you missed is always going to be a setback,” Ayers said. “But hopefully I worked out in my downtime and I could be in good shape and come out and make an impression and catch up and learn, and hopefully I didn’t get too far behind.”

Ayers, like the other former ends striving through the positional transition, knows that he’ll have to become a step faster in order to stand up at linebacker. Nolan is a firm believer that the ability to come at the quarterback from multiple spots is the strength of the 3-4 defense, and the moving parts are the outside linebackers, a position Ayers will occupy on passing downs.

“I just lost a few pounds. Four or five pounds – nothing dramatic. I just feel lighter. I’m playing (a) different position. A lot of the guys are doing it. All the guys that are making a transition from 4-3 (to a) 3-4 linebacker, it’s a different position so you want to feel light, you want to be able to move because you’re being asked to do different things.”

But while the pass rush will be generated from the edges, the interior of the stop unit has to become stronger with fewer athletes taking on more gap responsibilities. Stopping the run, a glaring weakness for the Broncos in 2008, starts with the nose tackle. Like the rest of the unit, it’s a position that carries a large question mark. Head coach Josh McDaniels has been active and vocal in every aspect of the practices thus far but was particularly interested in addressing the issues at defensive tackle.

“(The nose tackle) is important. That guy can’t evacuate the middle of the defense. You can’t let the (offensive) linemen get up to the linebackers too fast. You have got to be able to absorb two blockers sometimes. It happens so much faster inside than it does outside that they have to be able to react quickly to whatever the blocking scheme may be. They are doing a respectable job and getting better every day. I think physically, they are fine. They can handle the physical punishment. They are all 315 (pounds) or more, and they are all strong men. They come to work every day and try to get better. You are right. It is an important part of the defense.”

Of course, knowing the tasks of the position is simple. It’s finding the right run-clogging cog that has coaches scrutinizing every play at Dove Valley.

“We have got a lot of guys rolling in there, not just (DL Ronald) Fields. (DL Chris) Baker is obviously getting a little work in there (as well as DL Carlton), Powell and (DL) Marcus Thomas,” McDaniels said.

The onus placed on the interior of the 3-4 scheme is to create a quagmire in the middle and allow the quicker athletes on the perimeter to fly around with controlled chaos in an effort to confuse the offense. Numerous times Nolan has been overheard stating,“If you’re tight, you’re right.” That’s the message that inside linebackers Andra Davis, D.J. Williams and Josh Barrett have to understand. When that happens, the fresh faces on the outside, like Dumervil, are free to react and disrupt the play. In McDaniels’ eyes, for Dumervil it’s so far so good.

“He is doing fine,” McDaniels said. “Elvis is playing a little bit of a different position, but it just might be the perfect position for Elvis. That is what we are hoping for all of those outside linebackers that have made that transition because most of the outside linebackers in the National Football League were defensive ends at one point in their life. Most of them were defensive ends in college. Elvis is no different than those guys. He has just been in the league a little longer, which probably gives him a little bit of an advantage in terms of making the adjustment because he understands some of what is going on the other side of the ball.”

But that’s the rub. With more star turnover than a new season of Saved by the Bell, it’s impossible to predict exactly how the defense will gel with myriad players adapting to different roles. That’s why a guy like Ayers makes such an impact. He’s the universal gear in a system that asks so much of its players. And the first step, the first question, has finally been answered. Ayers is in camp, and the latest episode of the Denver defense can at least begin to roll the right credits.

See more from Hunter Ansley at DraftZoo.com