Is Cam Brown Safe Given His Special Teams Prowess?
Cam Brown, Linebacker
Height: 6-foot-5| Weight: 233 pounds
2022 stats: GP 17. Special Teams Tackles: 6 (3 solo)
There are a handful of players in the NFL who make their living on special teams, and New York Giants linebacker Cam Brown, the team's sixth-round draft pick in 2020, has been trying to be one of them.
The former Penn State linebacker's size and length initially gave Giants special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey the idea that the young man might just become a stalwart on special teams. Speaking to reporters during Brown's rookie season, McGaughey said of the linebacker:
Cam is smart, first of all. He’s 6-foot-5, 235-240 pounds, and can run like a deer. He has great length and speed, he’s smart, he’s physical. He’s very physical,” McGaughey told reporters on Thursday. “He plays every snap full speed. He is wide open every single time down the field. He’s a high-energy kid, he loves football, and he wants to learn. Those things, those attributes, just having that size and length and being physical. Then couple it with being able to run like he can; that’s just God-given.
Brown has settled in so much so into his special teams role that last season, he was voted as a team captain representing special teams. While his 2022 production was cut in half from 2021, his best season (six special teams tackles, three solo despite missing time with COVID and a hamstring injury), Brown has established himself as a core special teamer on whom his coaches have relied.
Best Case Scenario
Brown doesn't garner much attention, and that's by design. The 25-year-old shows up for work every day, puts his time in, goes out on Sunday to do his thing, and then goes home, paycheck in hand.
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In other words, he's a typical Brian Daboll, blue-collar type of player. And for as long as Brown can run like a deer, there's no reason to think his roster spot might be in jeopardy, considering how unstable the Giants special teams units were last year.
Worst Case Scenario
Like every other team in the league, the Giants bring in new faces who are just thirsting for a chance to hit someone on the gridiron, even if it comes on special teams. Considering the Giants special teams coverage units last year weren't all that stellar, no one should probably feel safe about his roster spot, Brown included.
As noted, Brown's numbers dropped off last year, and the fact that his production was a drop in the bucket on a special teams group that was just a trainwreck from start to finish--six tackles in 19 games--doesn't exactly bode well for the player's long-term future with the team.
That said, Brown is a competitor who, as already noted, shows up for work. The question is, can he regain the form from his first two seasons when he looked like he might be the next big thing on special teams?
Considering he no longer plays snaps on defense, his NFL future depends on it.
What to Expect in 2023
One of the head-scratching decisions last year was removing Brown, who flashed as a jumbo-sized gunner, from that duty. When Brown played gunner, he was difficult to block by double teams and often came barrelling down like a freight train on coverage.
Perhaps a move back to gunner might be just what the doctor ordered. His size, length, and speed is hard not to like, but at the same time, he has to be put in a position to use his physical gifts to make plays, especially since it looks like his days as getting the occasional snaps at linebacker--the experiment in 2021 to move him from inside linebacker to outside linebacker never really taking hold largely due to a lack of instincts--are in the rearview mirror.
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