Cleveland Browns: Cameron Erving settling in at center

Cleveland Browns center Cameron Erving is back at his natural position after a turbulent year in 2015 and ready to take control at center.

When the Cleveland Browns let Alex Mack leave during free agency, it was bemoaned with weeping and gnashing of teeth as the great offensive line apocalypse. Mack leaving supposedly left a giant hole in the middle of the Browns offensive line.

Part of the reason for such gloom was the play of Cameron Erving during his rookie season after the Browns selected his with the 19th pick of the 2015 NFL Draft. Erving was unable to break the starting lineup out of training camp, but was forced into starting four games in 2015 due to an injury to left guard Joel Bitonio. During his time on the field Erving’s play was less than stellar.

So, why is there reason for optimism regarding Erving this year?

This season Erving returns to the position he was drafted to play – center – where he reportedly is “settling in.” Settling in is exactly what Erving needs as he should stay at the position he was drafted to play.

Erving’s role on the offensive line in 2014 was an odyssey. On any given day, Erving could be playing any position on the line. When Joe Thomas had a day off, Erving was playing left tackle. When Mack was taking a day off, there was Erving playing center. There were even practices where Erving was playing right tackle. The position he was supposed to be learning was right guard, which he had never played before. To say that Erving could never get comfortable is an understatement.

So far during Organized Team Activities and minicamp, Erving has reportedly focused on his technique and positioning, two areas the Thomas mentioned in the off-season that were keys to Erving’s development.

It is not a surprise that Erving struggled as a rookie as he moved more than Odysseus during his 10-year journey home after the Trojan war. Because he was positioned all over the line, Erving never had the opportunity to learn any one position. Offensive line play in the NFL is too complex to try to learn all of it at once, and putting him on the field without teaching him to play the correct way was a great disservice to Erving.

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The biggest difference, according to Erving, has been the amount of coaching he has received from line coach Hal Hunter.

“He goes through every aspect of how he wants each block done – the center/guard combinations, the guard/tackle combinations, the tackle/tight end combinations, everything,” Erving said. “The steps to where you put your hands to hat placement. And those are the most important things because once you figured out those things you don’t have to think about how to block. You don’t have to think about my assignment, where I have to be or how to get there.”

Translation: learning the right technique frees one to relax and play aggressive.

Now that he is settling in to center Erving can return to doing what he does best – run block – and continue to develop other areas of his game.

“I just want to be a nasty player,” he said. “I’m a nice guy, but when I step onto the field, it’s time to play ball and it’s time to get a mean streak. I feel like that is one of the reasons that I was drafted here to the Browns because they saw I had that. I’m just going to be mean, nasty and physical.”

Next: Browns sign Cody Kessler

With Erving settling back into the position he was drafted to play, look for him to become the player that he and the Browns expected when he was drafted.

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