Ayers gets the call he was expecting

Robert Ayers knew it the moment his phone rang. The Denver area code gave it away.

“I saw 303 come up on my phone and I knew who it was,” Ayers said in a conference call Saturday after the University of Tennessee defensive end was selected in the first round of the NFL draft on Saturday. “I was excited because I feel like I fit very well in this scheme.”

Denver used the 18th overall pick to select Ayers.

“I’m real excited,” the 6-foot-3, 272-pounder said from a family cookout in New Jersey, where he lived before moving to South Carolina during high school. “I was telling my family that I was thinking that Denver would be the team.

“But when you hear stuff like that you try not to get your hopes up too high.”

Ayers showed NFL potential way back in high school, when he starred at Marlboro County High in Clio, S.C.

“He was a tremendous athlete and just a great player at linebacker,” former UT defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell said. “We knew because of his body structure, he might grow into a defensive end.”

Caldwell knew it. Ayers wasn’t so sure.

“It took Robert awhile to buy into that,” Caldwell said. “He still thought we were crazy for putting his hand on the ground because he thought he was a linebacker.

“It took him awhile to buy into the weight program. It took him awhile to buy into going to school but once he did, he became a great kid, a great young man and a great leader for the football team.”

Ayers’ ascension was one of the big stories leading up to the draft. Ayers went from a virtual unknown to a one-year wonder last season to a first-round pick.

“I think three years from now when we look back at this draft — and people think I’m crazy — I think he’s going to be the best defensive player out of the entire draft,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said shortly after Ayers was selected.

Caldwell pointed to two games last season that helped Ayers gain more respect from NFL front offices.

The first came in a 26-14 loss to Georgia.

“Even though we were getting beat, he was dominating the line of scrimmage until the final whistle blew,” Caldwell said. “That impressed me more than anything, knowing that he had grown up and he wasn’t going to quit.”

Then there was his performance against Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith, who was selected with the sixth pick by the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday.

“I thought he (Ayers) just had a tremendous ball game against him (Smith), a player that’s supposed to be a great player too,” Caldwell said.

Ayers’ versatility was also on display throughout 2008. Ayers primarily played defensive end but frequently slid inside to defensive tackle. He often was asked to drop into pass coverage as part of UT’s zone blitz scheme.

“With our scheme he did a lot of dropping into pass coverage,” Caldwell said.

Such versatility made Ayers a solid pick for a 3-4 defense as a linebacker or a 4-3 defense needing a defensive end. Ayers could play either in Denver.

“We’re going to use him in a lot of different ways,” first-year Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said. “He’s a player that we’re looking forward to moving around and finding where he fits best.”

The Broncos acquired the pick to take Ayers when they traded former Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.

Denver also selected former Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno with the 12th overall pick. Ayers approved.

“Every time I played against him, we always thought he was the best back in the country by far,” Ayers said. “He’s a hard runner. He’s one of the hardest runners I’ve ever played against.”

Caldwell has coached more than his fair share of NFL prospects, such as Shaun Ellis of the New York Jets, Parys Haralson of the San Francisco 49ers, Leonard Little of the St. Louis Rams and Will Overstreet, who played for the Atlanta Falcons.

“There’s no doubt he’s in the top four or five; you’d have to say that,” Caldwell said of players he has coached. “The thing that I think is the most impressive about him is he’s probably come further than any kid I’ve coached, as a player and as a person.

“All around he’s just done everything that you could ask of him.”

Following UT’s 5-7 season, Ayers elevated himself to a first-round prospect with his MVP performance at the Senior Bowl and strong workouts at the NFL Combine and at UT’s Pro Day.

Former UT defensive end Chuck Smith, who is now with Defensive Ends Inc., worked with Ayers leading up to the draft.

“It’s a great amazing story that came out of such a tough year for all the Volunteers. Rob was one of the guys that got caught up in the shuffle,” Smith said of Ayers, who was named All-SEC after posting 15½ tackles for a loss in 2008.

The key for Ayers — soon a multi-millionaire — may be listening to the same type of good advice he shunned as a UT underclassman.

“I hope he’s got good people around him that will give him good advice,” Caldwell said. “That’s the reason he is where he is today.”

Ayers is the fourth consecutive first round pick from UT.

Defensive back Jason Allen went to the Miami Dolphins with the 16th pick in 2006. Defensive tackle Justin Harrell went to the Green Bay Packers with the 16th pick in 2007. Linebacker Jerod Mayo went to the New England Patriots with the 10th pick last year.

More Vols: With two rounds complete, the draft resumes at 10 this morning. Several former UT players will be waiting to hear their names called: defensive tackle Demonte’ Bolden, punter Dustin Colquitt, tailback Arian Foster, receiver Lucas Taylor and offensive linemen Anthony Parker and Ramon Foster.

Ayers is the fourth consecutive first round pick from UT.

Defensive back Jason Allen went to the Miami Dolphins with the 16th pick in 2006. Defensive tackle Justin Harrell went to the Green Bay Packers with the 16th pick in 2007. Linebacker Jerod Mayo went to the New England Patriots with the 10th pick last year.