Cam Fleming: The Good, the Great, and the Ugly
When the Giants signed Cam Fleming this off-season, they probably thought he would push rookie Andrew Thomas and veteran Nate Solder for one of the starting tackle positions.
At worst, they would have created legitimate depth at the position; at best, they would find a starter for the foreseeable future.
All of that changed when Solder decided to opt-out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With talk of Nick Gates moving to center growing louder every day, that opened the door for Fleming to become a full-time starter for the upcoming season.
"I've played in a lot of big games with Cam Fleming starting at right tackle for us and we came out on the right end of that," head coach Judge said last month.
"I have a lot of confidence in Cam. He comes to work every day and works hard. He's familiar with the system and he plays with the right demeanor. I have a lot of confidence in Cam, I don't care what his history has been because I have been there for part of his history and we won a lot of big games together."
What does the Giants' projected starting right tackle bring to the table? Let's break down his film and see.
The Good: Run Blocking
While Fleming is not a devastating run blocker, he is very good at covering up or walling off defenders. He has a large frame with long arms, and he definitely uses them to his advantage.
In this first clip, Fleming is playing left tackle against the Jets. He is working on a double team with the left guard. He is able to force the defender down, which creates a cutback lane for the running back.
Fleming is able to come off his block at the last second and get a chip on a linebacker who was trying to fill the hole and tackle the running back.
The Cowboys were able to grind a three-yard gain out of a play defended very well by the defense.
In the next clip, Fleming is at left tackle against the Packers. They are running to the right, so his responsibility is to wall off or drive the defender in his gap away.
On the snap, he explodes into the defender who is trying to avoid outside. He is able to use the defender's momentum against him by driving him towards the side the defender went to avoid the block.
Fleming is able to drive the defender further away from the play. His success comes because he is able to extend his arms and press the defender back and away from the action.
In this final clip, Fleming uses a little deception to aid in his run blocking. He initially kick-slides out to the defender giving the allusion of pass. The defender responds by rushing up the field.
Once Fleming gets the defender committed, he explodes into him and is able to press the defender with his right arm sealing him outside.
This does not allow the defender to redirect for the ball carrier easily. When he does try to pursue the ball carrier, Fleming is able to wall him off.
The Great: He flashes signs of elite pass protection.
We say "flashes" because the sample size has only been a few games and situations in which they could not completely gameplan for a defender.
But in smaller sample sizes, he has exhibited the ability to stone bullrushes, sift through twist and stunts, and run speed rushers around the pocket to keep the quarterback safe.
In this first clip, Fleming shows he has eye discipline. He has two defenders lined up outside of him. Both look like they might come, but one could drop out at the snap.
Fleming understands his responsibility is the outside rusher. When the ball is snapped, both outside rushers come. The defender furthest outside then loops underneath into the B-gap.
Fleming does not follow the defender; instead, he focuses on the other defender rushing outside and allows his teammate (in this case the running back) to pick the looping defender up.
In the next clip, Fleming is going up against current Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams, then with the Jets.
Williams is lined up inside eye of Fleming in a tilt 4i technique. On the snap, he works into Fleming to try and use his speed to get around him, but Fleming shows great footwork and balance to keep Williams from getting around him.
Ultimately, Fleming uses his right arm to create distance from Williams, which allows him to run the defender around the quarterback who is able to throw and deliver a catchable ball.
In this final clip, Fleming has to deal with another stunt from the Packers. He has a defender lined up outside of him in a wide 9-tech.
On the snap, that defender rushes inside Fleming towards the guard and collisions the guard. The end tries to work around the stunt, but Fleming was able to recognize the stunt, turned to the end, and was able to wall him off away from the quarterback, which allows the quarterback to deliver a strike to the receiver.
The Ugly: Inconsistency against the pass rush
For all of his potential, Fleming has warts, especially in pass protection. Sometimes he gets off balance and gets pushed back, run around, and beat inside moves from outside rushers.
In this first clip, Fleming gets caught falling for an inside move. The defensive end goes inside to the A-gap. The two inside linebackers wrap around the defensive end.
The first backer attacked the B-gap, which draws the attention of Fleming. Unfortunately, that was not his responsibility, and by the time he locates the second linebacker charging around the C-gap, he is too late to stop him from getting a shot on the quarterback.
In this final clip, Fleming gets caught off balance against a speed rusher. He sees the wide-9 technique to his outside and knows he has to kick slide out to reach him.
On the snap, he uses his kick slide, but his feet get caught together. The defender takes advantage of Fleming being off balance and gets underneath his pads for a bull rush.
Because he's off-balance, Fleming is unable to anchor down to stop the bull rush. The defender pushes him back into the quarterback's lap then makes the sack.
Final Thoughts
Another change for Fleming is that he is projected to play on the right side instead of the left side.
According to Pro Football Focus, Fleming has played 769 career snaps at left tackle and 927 at right tackle. However, in the last two seasons with the Cowboys, he's played 471 snaps at left tackle and only 13 at right tackle.
While he can play either side--and again, that was likely the Giants' thought process when they signed him, since he's mostly been at left tackle recently, there was no doubt a period of re-acclimation to the right side.
The Giants coaches seem confident in Fleming and believe he can get the job done. It would be a great thing for this New York offense if he is able to settle into the position and work well as part of the starting offensive line if he wins the job.
