2011 NFL Draft: Is Akeem Ayers Worthy of a First Round Pick?

You could almost hear the stock UCLA’s Akeem Ayers dropping with each passing step of the linebacker’s 40 yard dash attempt at this year’s NFL Combine.

His final mark, a time of 4.88 seconds, was a far cry from what many scouts and personnel folks were expecting from Ayers, who was initially considered one of the most athletic defensive prospects in the 2011 class.

Ayers, a 6’2’’ 254 lb. junior who renounced his final season of eligibility, was once believed to be just a notch below Von Miller of Texas A&M, an almost guaranteed top five pick, in the outside linebacker pecking order this year.

But poor showings in workouts and inconsistencies in his game film could have the linebacker’s stock dropping as we approach draft weekend

After coming into this past season with a lot of hype as one of college football’s top linebacker prospects, Ayers will be the first to tell you that he failed to put together the type of final campaign that many expected from him in 2010.

Ayers finished his final year with just 68 tackles and four sacks on a UCLA team that struggled all season long.

Sure, the flashes were there, as they had been in 2009, but his overall body of work was lacking the overall substance needed to solidify Ayers as an undisputed first round draft choice.

Still, that hasn’t stopped plenty of teams needing outside linebacker help from doing their due diligence on him.

The San Diego Chargers, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets are just a few of the teams that have given the intriguing young linebacker a long look over these last few months.

You have to wonder, though, if any of those franchises, whose first round picks range from 18-30,  would pull the trigger on Ayers on the first night of the draft.

Teams employing a 3-4 defense would choose Ayers with the hope that he could make a successful full-time transition to the rush linebacker position. It seems like the most logical fit considering Ayers showed a knack for penetrating into opposing backfields during his college days.

Ayers came up with enough flash plays in his career as a Bruin to warrant early attention, but when it comes to his overall value, it remains to be seen if a team has enough trust to pull the trigger on him in the first round.

You’ve got guys like Fresno State’s Chris Carter, who I personally am a very big fan of, that you can get at a much better bargain in the third round, even though Carter still has to prove he can make the switch from 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker.

When all is said and done, the fact is that so many teams that play a 3-4 defense will be looking for impact edge linebackers early on in this draft, and that will only serve to help Ayers' chances of being a top pick.

The fact that Ayers has a tendency to vanish for stretches in games, and the fact that he failed to show that he has a noticeable mean streak, might scare teams off from taking him early. But there will probably be at least one franchise who sees his potential as just too hard to pass up.

In all likelihood, Akeem Ayers will be a first round pick in this year’s draft, however, he’s far from a guarantee to live up to that status.

If he ends up in the right defensive system and properly embraces his role, Ayers has a chance to be a star defensive player in the NFL.

However, if he lets the same type of inconsistencies continue to plague him in the pros, he could become just another high pick who leaves us all wondering what could have been.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/662091-2011-nfl-draft-is-akeem-ayers-worthy-of-a-first-round-pick

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