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There are many takeaways to be gathered from the Cleveland Browns‘ letdown season of 2015. For obvious reasons, many of them are negative. One of the biggest, though, is that it doesn’t appear rookie Cameron Erving knows how to play the sport of football very well.
Erving, selected 19th overall by the Browns in this year’s draft, was touted as one of the most versatile offensive lineman available, specifically due to his ability to play multiple positions while at Florida State. Specifically, it appeared the Browns selected him as their future center, as Pro Bowler Alex Mack is expected to leave in free agency at the end of the year.
If this is still the plan, wow, is Cleveland’s line in major trouble.
Erving has been a disaster all season long, looking completely unable to block at a professional level. It got so bad he was eventually benched for Austin Pasztor, who had been cut from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ironically enough, his first game on the bench resulted in the Browns running roughshod over the San Francisco 49ers.
However, Erving was thrust back into action yesterday when starting guard John Greco was injured in Cleveland’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. Anyone hoping the benching resulted in inspired play was proven wrong almost immediately.
Once again, Erving was shoved away with ease, as multiple plays ended with his assignment driving deep into the backfield. Any time Seattle blitzed or even sent one rusher Erving’s way, said rusher slid through the offensive line with ease.
In fact, it was so bad that Erving is proving to not only be a bad player, but also a serious liability on the field.
Yesterday’s game featured multiple instances where quarterback Johnny Manziel had a Seahawk in his face the second he snapped the ball. Various running plays were doomed on arrival, mainly due to the fact even Barry Sanders couldn’t escape a situation in which he’s already being tackled as he receives a handoff.
Unfortunately, the bulk of these aforementioned scenarios were all thanks to the “blocking” attempts from Erving. Any hope the Browns may have had in stunning Seattle yesterday seemed to be dashed the second the team had to take their first-round pick off the bench.
Erving’s play is not only incredibly ineffective, it also kills drives. The sacks he allowed turned first-and-10 into second-and-18. Manziel’s available time in the pocket decreased dramatically, forcing him to find an open man immediately after receiving the ball or run for his life.
It’s one thing to have a first-round pick fall short of expectations, but it’s a completely different issue if he’s almost single-handedly derailing the offense. So far this season, that’s exactly what the Browns are getting from Erving.
Obviously it goes without saying Erving will need to spend the entire offseason working on improving his play. He’ll definitely need to hit the gym and bulk up, as it currently doesn’t seem to take much effort to shove him to the ground. Essentially, Erving will have to do everything he can to ensure the seemingly-inevitable departure of Mack doesn’t cause uncontrollable panic within the Cleveland locker room.
At the moment, that’s exactly how the Browns would react if Mack ends up bailing, and you really couldn’t blame them. It’s an appropriate reaction for having to replace a Pro Bowl center with someone who looks like he’d tip over if a stiff breeze rolled in.
Erving’s bust status seems to cement itself with his every appearance. Unfortunately, due to injuries on the line, Cleveland has no choice but to keep playing him. As we’re learning, the team has to do so even though Erving is proving to be an incredible burden to any sort of offensive strategy.
Casey Drottar is the Cleveland Beat Writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook
