|
OT Cameron Erving, Florida State
I think Cameron Erving has all the potential in the world, and if you've got absolute faith in your coaching staff, you take a shot on this guy.
He's just a really special awesome athlete for a guy his size (6'6", 310). He doesn't quite have Eric Fisher's fluid movement but I'd put him on par with Brandon Albert. It really wouldn't surprise me if Erving blew up into a Top 10 pick after the Combine. He looks like a perfect zone-blocking tackle.
That's his greatest strength and perhaps his greatest weakness? I don't know, he doesn't seem to explode in the blocking game like some of the other dudes do on this list. He blocks effectively against inferior competition, but it'll be interesting to see how he handles the bigger, stronger DL in the NFL, primarily when he's playing 3-4 defenses.
He's fast enough to handle the edge, but he'll give it up from time to time for a pretty simple reason: his kickslide. I think Erving has a pathetic kickslide, but I can't imagine that could be that hard to coach up, is it? His kickslide looks like he has two thick rubber bands holding his feet together, and it's a really odd contrast to compare that to how well he moves all over the field.
It's reported that Erving has great strength, but I don't see it anything above average there. He can hang with smaller defenders, and block them effectively, but he doesn't get a lot of push in the run game like you'd expect from somebody with his skillset...
My primary fear would be that Erving is a finesse player, and not a grind-it-out player. Which is great in some schemes that require more athleticism than Reid's, but as I've said (and will say) ad nauseum, Reid's scheme prefers bigger and badder. But then again, he's got all the tools. The question is: how much do you trust your coaches. My guess is somebody in the Top 20 picks will trust them enough.
Projection for Erving: As for all of these players, it's too early to project much seeing how the draft is almost half a year away, but whatever. Erving has Top 10 potential if he tests well, and 1st round potential even if he doesn't. He's just too good of an athlete, and too many teams prefer great athletes who need work on technique over technicians who aren't great athletes.
Projected Chiefs interest @ 23: Decently high. Dorsey has shown an affinity for drafting great athletic projects and trusts the Chiefs' coaches, as most teams do. He drafted Fisher, Kelce, Davis, and Commings in the earlier rounds, all players who need significant work from coaches. The problem, however, is that the Chiefs just drafted a super athletic finesse tackle in Fisher, and it's doubtful they want to go that exact route again -- no doubt they'd love a tougher, more powerful guy. But it's possible that with good coaching, Erving could be that guy.
|