Tennessee football’s top 10 NFL DEs ever
Teams played for:
- Denver Broncos, 2009-2013
- New York Giants, 2014-2015
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2016-2017
Robert Ayers was the successor to Parys Haralson on Tennessee football’s defensive line. He saw action as a freshman but truly emerged a sophomore. In his junior season, he helped the Vols win the SEC East, and like Haralson, his efforts were wasted his senior year, as he earned All-SEC honors despite the team having a horrible offense.
That was the year Phillip Fulmer was fired. Still, Ayers was enough of a standout talent to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He actually was the only player from UT taken in that draft. At 6’3″ 275 pounds, Ayers was an imposing force on the line, and he became a starter by his second season, in 2010.
In 2011, Ayers was part of the elite defense that carried Tim Tebow to the playoffs, and he then got to spend two years with Peyton Manning, playing in the Super Bowl his final year in Denver. He then got to spend two years playing with Eli Maning and the New York Giants before finishing his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and having to play with Jameis Winston.
Over his nine-year career, Ayers appeared in 120 games and had 59 starts. He registered 34.5 sacks, another 51 tackles for a loss, 12 pass deflections, nine forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries including one he recovered for a touchdown, and 265 total tackles, 192 of which were solo. We can safely say he had a good run.