This former first-rounder is benefiting from a fresh start with the Chiefs
One syllable uttered at training camp often doesn’t warrant much unpacking and explanation. When asked in the media tent after Wednesday’s training camp sessions if there’s more pressure on a first-round draft pick to be great, Cam Erving parted his lips just long enough to squeeze out a “nope” with a tone that signaled let’s keep it moving.
A 6-foot-5, 313-pound fourth-year lineman out of Florida State, Erving came to the Chiefs last August via a trade from Cleveland. The 19th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft after a highly decorated college career, he’d been labeled a bust and jettisoned after two seasons by the Cleveland Browns.
Going into his second year with the Chiefs, Erving sits in position to potentially start at left guard and has made himself an indispensable part of the offensive line. If not a starter, he’ll likely be the next man up at center, guard and tackle this season.
After seemingly being unsettled for the first few years of his career, he has now settled into a role as the guy in the offensive line room most capable of wearing many hats.
“That’s one of the things that makes me valuable, being able to be versatile,” Erving said. “For a while, I took it as a curse. But it’s been a blessing to just be able to learn all the ins and outs of every position over time. Now, being able to focus in on one thing a little bit more and go here or there if I’m needed, it’s definitely been good to be versatile. It took a while to learn how to be versatile.”
Erving, drafted by Cleveland one spot after the Chiefs selected Marcus Peters, entered the NFL having successfully transitioned from defensive line to offensive line during his college career. A two-time Jacobs Blocking Trophy winner as the ACC’s top blocker, he’d become an All-American at left tackle in 2013. He moved to center in 2014 and earned All-ACC honors at a second position.
Cleveland looked at Erving’s athleticism and size combination and projected him as a guard. He played in all 16 games as a rookie and started four. He started 13 games in 2016 while playing center and tackle but at times was overwhelmed by stouter, more experienced players. His early struggles were magnified by the fact that he’d been such a high draft pick, along with Cleveland’s overall futility as a franchise (4-28 combined record in 2015 and 2016).
“In some degree, to his defense, here’s a guy that played defensive line his first couple years at Florida State,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said. “They threw him out at tackle. He played really well at tackle. Then, halfway through his senior year, they threw him at center. He never played guard, and he got thrown to the wolves there a little bit at guard and he probably hadn’t quite adjusted to that position or to the speed of the game.”
Veach and the Chiefs had the luxury of not having to view Erving through the lens of someone they used a first-round draft pick to acquire. They sent a fifth-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Erving, who runs very well for a lineman, has 34-inch arms and has displayed quick feet.
“When you strip everything down to its core,” Veach said, “you have a guy that can play a bunch of positions and is a good athlete. He’s a good kid, and he’s going to work.”
Timing also worked out where the Chiefs were in need of a swing tackle who could slide into either spot if needed. Jah Reid could have filled that role, but he was slated to make $2.5 million for one season compared to the $2.2 million the Chiefs will pay Erving over two seasons.
The Chiefs cut Reid and still had Erving and versatile lineman Zach Fulton. Fulton started 12 games last season as a result of injuries to center Mitch Morse and tackle Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. This offseason, Fulton signed a four-year deal worth an average of $7 million annually with the Houston Texans.
While the constant moving around from one position to the next, dating back to college, may have stunted Erving’s development, he has accepted that his value is being able to do everything.
“It just took time, man,” Erving said. “The NFL is a crazy business. Not having time to be able to focus on one thing, it makes your mind go to every little thing that could go wrong with every little thing that you have to think about. You basically just have to get in there and play football. Learning the ins and outs of an offense comes with time.”
While he won’t put blame for any of his struggles in Cleveland on moving around, or the pressure of being a high draft pick, he did admit that a new beginning with the Chiefs made a difference.
“It definitely helped me,” Erving said. “It was definitely a blessing to be where I was. To be in the NFL is a blessing in itself. It was definitely good for me to get a change of scenery and get here and get a fresh start.”
With the Chiefs’ preseason opener on Aug. 9, Erving has taken the majority of the first-team snaps at left guard. He started off camp taking first-team reps at center while the staff eased Morse back into the starting center spot. Erving, who has trimmed down by about 15 pounds from when he arrived in Kansas City, could find himself starting at what’s likely still his third-best position out of the three on the offensive line.
“It’s a tribute to the kid and his mindset when he came in here that he just wanted to learn and grow and get better,” Veach said. “A tribute to our coaching staff and coach (Andy) Heck for the time and the patience that they had with the kid and the work they did with him.
“It’s a tribute to our training staff. This is what a team is all about. It’s about the player believing in himself. It’s about the coaches believing in him. It’s about the training staff believing in him. And it’s about our personnel staff being like, ‘You know what? We like this kid.’”
This story was originally published August 2, 2018 at 5:30 AM.