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Watching No. 91 on the New York Giants get into the backfield and sack a quarterback had become a regular occurrence for years. But that was during Justin Tuck’s tenure with Big Blue before he left via free agency. His uniform number successor has not missed a beat, though, with defensive end Robert Ayers Jr. leading the team with five sacks through the first 11 games.
Ayers spent the first five years of his professional career with the Denver Broncos after they selected him in the first round (18th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. He started 27 games during that period and had 12 sacks. The Giants signed him last April once he hit the open market and he has remained second on the depth chart behind starting left defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka.
Ayers has yet to start a game in New York, but has been productive when called upon. He has been used mostly in situational circumstances, such as third down when he can key in on rushing the quarterback. A perfect scenario was during last Sunday’s winning drive for the Dallas Cowboys, but the coaching staff’s strategy was to use more defensive tackles to guard against the run. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell explained their reasoning during a press conference this week, as reported on the team’s website.
“The unit that we put on the field, to be quite honest, we just didn’t get the job done. There were three minutes left in the ball game; they had a lot of time. It really wasn’t a two-minute situation, so to speak, because they could run the ball, they could do whatever they wanted to do with that amount of time left in the game. I think they did run the ball on a third-and-one situation. I think we tried to get (Ayers) back in; I think he came back in a play or so.”
Ayers needs to pick up his game as far as defending the run goes and he will need live reps to make those improvements. Since he is a natural pass rusher and the Giants have struggled in that area, having a full-time player who can get to the quarterback is an advantage.
Joe Pietaro is a New York Giants writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MuscleSportMag, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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