Forgotten Ram : Tight End Drayton Upset That His Job Is to Block, Not Receive

The way things are going, a frustrated Troy Drayton couldn’t be blamed for thinking it’s a conspiracy: The 49ers rushed out to sign cornerback Deion Sanders just to make sure the tight end’s streak without a catch remains intact Sunday.

Not true, said Gary Plummer, football historian and San Francisco linebacker, the Rams need no help; they will make sure Drayton doesn’t catch the ball.

“I can put it in two words,” Plummer said. “Chuck Knox.”

The Ram coach has made a blocker out of Troy Drayton. Imagine Don Shula asking Dan Marino to become a scrambler. Or June Jones switching Andre Rison to defense.

“That’s all I’ve been doing basically,” Drayton said, “blocking.”

The Atlanta Falcons, who feature a run-and-shoot offensive attack, and the Los Angeles Rams remain the only two teams in the NFL this season without a catch from one of their tight ends.

“I’ve heard everybody from my teachers in high school all the way to my little brother: ‘What’s the problem?’ ” Drayton said. “I tell them the truth, I don’t understand it myself.

“Hopefully one of these days I’ll be a part of the offense. But right now I really don’t know where I stand.”

Drayton is usually standing on the sideline when the Rams are confronted with an obvious passing situation. Required to block on first and second down, he is removed on third down so the Rams can employ additional wide receivers.

Offensive line and wide receiver were considered the Rams’ two weakest positions entering this season, and yet the team has chosen to bench Drayton to go four deep at wide receiver.

“I think a lot of people, and the coaching staff, are looking at me like I’m just thinking about myself, but I’m talking about helping this team win,” Drayton said. “My strength is receiving and getting in the open field and making things happen. That’s where I can really help this team.

“It’s not about how many balls I catch; I just feel like I can bring another dimension with my skills. I could give us another threat, and take a little pressure off not only Jerome Bettis, but Flipper Anderson.”

Drayton expressed his frustration to the media following Sunday’s loss in Atlanta, but he said no one on the team has spoken to him about it.

“Just another day,” Drayton said. “Nobody has said anything to me. I wish somebody would sit down and tell me what my job description is. What is my niche in this offense? I don’t feel I have a place right now.”

In the past, when Drayton has received the ball, he has shown the ability to break tackles and gain big yardage. Four of his catches resulted in touchdowns a year ago.

“You sure?” said Tim McDonald, 49er safety, when asked about Drayton being shut out this season. “No. 84? Is that right? Wow . . . He caught some balls on us last year.”

The Rams had to be pushed into using him last year. They said he didn’t know the offense well enough to contribute, but when criticism mounted, they played him and he finished the season with 27 catches.

That’s 27 receptions for a part-time tight end in Knox’s ground-hugging offense. In Knox’s 21 years as a head coach, tight ends as a group have averaged 30 catches a season.

Charle Young’s 36 receptions in 1983 for Seattle accounted for the most catches by a tight end playing for Knox.

Drayton has flashed the skills to double that number, but consider his plight: He’s playing for a coach who likes his tight ends to block, and with Chris Miller, a quarterback who had no tight ends to throw to while playing in Atlanta’s run-and-shoot attack.

Obviously, it’s time for introductions: Chris, this is Troy . . .

“He talked to me in the shower after last week’s game in Atlanta,” Miller said, “and he said, ‘I can handle this; I need the rock, they need to give me the ball.

“I know we need to get him more involved. We’re addressing that this week, and there’s no doubt about it, we need to get him the ball.”

At 6-3, 255, Drayton is too much to handle for safeties and cornerbacks. He has the speed and moves to evade linebackers assigned pass coverage.

Such potential to confound defenses.

“I’m tired of people saying you have the potential to be this or that,” Drayton said. “It’s opportunity that matters. I want the coaches saying, we have to get Drayton the ball because he gives us another threat.

“That’s what I want, but what the coach wants and what I want are two different things. And they have all the power. I have none, and so I just have to hang in there until someone decides to include me in the offense.”