INDIANAPOLIS — Defensive end Robert Ayers wasn’t a starter until his senior season at Tennessee.
He’d produced some eye-catching moments before then but not enough to suggest a superstar in the making.
“I guess you could say I am a late bloomer,’’ Ayers said Sunday at the NFL Combine.
With the draft two months away, it’s safe to say Ayers is in full bloom.
After a standout performance in the Senior Bowl last month, when he was selected the game’s most outstanding defensive player, Ayers has moved up in mock drafts and undoubtedly on draft boards. NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock called him the fastest riser in the draft.
“Robert Ayers has opened my eyes,’’ Mayock said. “There was a little buzz about him late in the year at Tennessee. Then at the Senior Bowl nobody could block him. His explosion and quickness blew me away.
“I have him my top 20 right now out of nowhere. I have him as the 12th best player in the country right now.’’
As a senior, Ayers finished third in the SEC with 15.5 tackles for loss en route to being named All-SEC. He had 1.5 sacks in the Senior Bowl, half as many as he had in his senior season with the Vols. NFL teams see the 6-foot-3, 272-pounder as a player capable of playing on the inside or outside.
Ayers quickly pointed out that he wasn’t a bench-riding, wasted talent some seem to think he was.
“The fact that I only started one year to me can be taken the wrong way,’’ he said. “If you look at the stats at Tennessee, as a junior I led the team in tackles for losses and sacks off the bench, so my hard work didn’t just start my senior year.
“The fact that I got most improved going into my junior year and got selected as a captain as a senior shows I’ve been working hard. So my hard work really just paid off and I earned the starting position as a senior, but I’ve been working hard since day one and that is what I am going to continue to do.’’
Ayers said he talked with a lot of teams this weekend and got good vibes. His former UT teammates talked him up, too.
“When he breaks out he is not turning back,’’ Tennessee tackle Ramon Foster said. “At Tennessee he was one of those guys where it was like, ‘When is he going to take off?’ I feel like he is finally taking a step to being elite.’’
Ayers said he plans to pay no attention to the buzz, that he won’t look at the mock drafts, and doesn’t like comparing himself to some of the other defensive ends in the draft.
“Growing up as a child I watched NFL players like Barry Sanders and Reggie White and those guys and just to be considered in any round or free agency, that is just a blessing in itself,’’ he said. “If things work out and I end up in the first round then that is good, if I go (as a) free agent that’s good, too. I am just happy to be in this situation.’’
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