Drayton Comes On Strong Over Weight

The scowl on Troy Drayton’s face reflected how the Ram tight end felt about being likened recently to “The Fridge.”

Just a joke, Troy.

“Not funny,” Drayton said.

Although admittedly angry, Drayton sat down for an interview at the Rams’ UC Irvine training camp, and the chair did not break.

A while back, the planet had tipped in Drayton’s direction, but as he was quick to point out Monday, he is now only three pounds over his playing weight of 257 last season.

“I had a plan,” Drayton said. “My plan was to come in as strong as I could, and to get strong I had to put on a little weight.”

Drayton’s get-fat plan, however, initially had the Ram coaches concerned. Starting tight end Pat Carter already had defected to Houston, and at the opening of mini-camp, Drayton was looking like a wanna-be Sumo wrestler.

“The coaches panicked,” Drayton said. “I told them not to worry, I go through this every year, but they checked up on me so much that it upset me.

“If I can move when I’m 10 pounds overweight, I know I’m going to be quicker when I start cutting the weight. I do it every off-season. I was adding muscle and I was getting bigger. I grew an inch, too. I’m 6-3 1/2 now.”

Drayton took two weeks off after last season and then began working out six days a week, four hours a day in Malibu with a personal trainer. No breaks, no vacation, no eating binges.

“I don’t ever want to be a person where they say, ‘Troy had the potential to be this or that but never got it done.’ I know I have to seize my opportunity, and my opportunity is now.”

During practice, Drayton spends time with the offensive tackles learning what they know. He can tell you what Jackie Slater is doing most every minute of the day because Slater knows what Drayton needs to know.

“I’ve never told him, but I just watch him,” Drayton said. “I mean I watch him when he’s not in and he’s back there practicing and going through it mentally. I see that and I’m thinking maybe I should do the same thing.”

Drayton, who drew praise from former Charger tight end Kellen Winslow last season, will be asked to block and catch this season. The extra muscle gained in bulking up during the off-season will be used to pave the way for Jerome Bettis, as Carter did a year ago.

“Carter’s a big loss, but it’s not a void we can’t fill,” Drayton said. “He taught me so much and he’s with me everyday because I have film of him to watch whenever I need it. I kinda wish I had another year under Pat, but now I want to show the Rams what he taught me.”

Having Drayton play the role of thug to block for Bettis is akin to asking Ken Griffey Jr. to bunt. Doesn’t make sense, but the Rams claim they will utilize Drayton’s best skills and throw him the ball. In early workouts, indeed, he has proved to be one of quarterback Chris Miller’s most reliable targets.

“My goal is to be a Pro Bowl player this year,” Drayton said. “I want to catch 60 passes and score maybe 10 touchdowns. With most of my goals, if I don’t make them, I come pretty close.”

If successful, he also might be in the running for comeback player of the year honors. After being selected in the second round of the draft last season from Penn State, the Rams reacted as if he were academically ineligible.

“If you went to China, would you be able to speak Chinese right away?” said Chick Harris, offensive coordinator. “There are so many things to learn when you’re just coming out of college and being asked to play at another level.”

Drayton didn’t catch on, however, and the Rams had little patience for his wayward pass-running routes.

“I was a lost soul at times, and running around like a chicken with its head cut off,” he said. “And I honestly felt people didn’t think I was bright enough to pick all that up.

“But I came out of Penn State with its basic offense to Ernie Zampese’s complex offense and was asked to learn three positions. I was trying. If everyone else had a meeting at 8, I had a meeting at 7:30 with Coach (Mike) Martz to prepare for practice.

“No matter how much you study, though, you’re not always sure in the beginning, and that makes you hesitant. But then things started to click in the middle of the season, and I think I showed what I can do in the latter part.”

Drayton caught 27 passes last season--14 in the team’s last five games. In the Rams’ new passing attack, which has a San Francisco look to it, the tight end will have the chance to become a star.

“Troy can be a force,” Harris said. “We’re going to have to make sure we have a nice package for him.”

Last season, the Rams had one play--a nice play--for Drayton: “Fake pitch right Y screen.” The offensive linemen fell down at the line of scrimmage, the quarterback faked a pitch to Bettis and Drayton ran free to the left to catch a screen pass. The play resulted in two touchdowns and nearly a third.

“I want the ball in my hands as much as possible,” Drayton said. “If I catch the ball, I know one of two things are going to happen: I’m going to score or it’s going to be a big play.”

And what about blocking?

“It’s still a little shocking,” he said. “I’m going to have to go up against a lot of defensive ends this year and most of them will outweigh me.”

Get out of here.