Overview: The native of Senegal may be one of the best-kept secrets in college football. While he lined up at defensive tackle for the Orange, he has excellent quickness that might be better utilized as a defensive end in a 3-4 alignment. He has incredibly long arms, good explosion off the ball and large hands, all assets needed to play on the edge. His frame continues to grow and with his high school experience on the other side of the ball, Drame might also draw interest from the pros for a possible shift to offensive tackle.
Drame attended Wilbur Cross High School, where he earned Tom Lemming Prep Football Report All-East defensive honors. He was named to the Hartford Courant and New Haven Register All-State and All-Southern Connecticut Conference teams as a senior at defensive tackle and also played on the offensive line. He recorded 71 tackles, seven sacks, four pass breakups and a blocked punt as a senior. Drame was a member of the track team as a discus thrower and shot putter.
He was recruited by former assistant coach Dennis Goldman for Syracuse, but spent the 2001-02 semesters at St. Thomas More, a prep school, to improve his academics. He competed as an offensive tackle during his one season at the school.
Drame enrolled at Syracuse in 2002, spending the season mostly on the sidelines. He saw brief action in four games, recording seven tackles (3 solos) with a quarterback pressure. He appeared in every game in 2003, but performed as a reserve. He finished with 11 tackles (6 solos), assisting on a stop behind the line of scrimmage and deflecting a pass.
Drame forced his way into the starting lineup as a junior. He took over at right defensive tackle and went on to record 31 tackles (16 solos) with one-half sack, 3.5 stops for losses and a pressure. He also deflected three passes and blocked a kick. Drame then shifted to left defensive tackle in 2005. He produced 26 hits (18 solos) with four stops behind the line of scrimmage. He caused a fumble, batted away three passes and blocked a kick for the second consecutive year.
In 39 games at Syracuse, Drame started 23 times. He registered 75 tackles (43 solos) with one-half sack for minus-1 yard, eight stops for losses of 18 yards and a pair of quarterback pressures. He caused a fumble, blocked two kicks and had seven pass breakups.
Positives: Has a rare-sized frame with incredibly long arms, large hands, a big, thick frame that can add at least another 20 pounds of bulk, thick legs, wide bubble and above average quickness for a player his size...More ideally suited for the DE position in a 3-4 alignment to take advantage of his explosiveness off the snap and his long reach to drag down ball carriers along the corner...He has shown improvement every year as far as football knowledge and ball recognition skills...A former goalie in soccer, he has very good flexibility and hip snap to flow down the line of scrimmage...He shows quick redirection agility and once he locates the ball, he closes in a hurry...Works hard to get back into the play when he is ridden wide...Has the quickness to slip blocks and while still developing strength, he shows good hand placement to reset and gain position on the blocker...He uses his long reach effectively to keep blockers off his body and can generate decent pop on contact...Shows good work ethic and is a respected leader in the locker room...Blue-collar type who played out of position, but never complained.
Negatives: Needs to add more strength and bulk to his impressive, but still lanky frame... Needs to sink his hips and stay lower in his pads to fight the double team...Lack of overall productivity was because of the way the system used him ? mostly for containment purposes...Lacks leverage and fails to get a good push when trying to shoot the inside gaps (better when coming off the edge)...When he gets high in his stance, blockers cut him down at the knees and he does not use his long arms well to combat low blocks...Has good field vision, but sometimes gets caught up in inside trash when he fails to recognize blocking schemes.
Drame has an outstanding frame that is capable of adding more bulk without losing his impressive foot speed. He is still a work in progress and lacks the pass rush moves or the low pad level to get leverage coming off the snap. He has very long arms to wrap and secure ball carriers and enough valid speed to surprise slower blockers when coming off an edge.
He has good field instincts, but needs to be more alert to blocking schemes. Even with his long arms, he struggles to fend off low blocks and needs to be more active with his hands when combating double teams. Drame added some bulk before the 2005 season and that improved his ability to hold ground at the point of attack, but additional progress is needed there.
He has the ability to reach, stab and shock blockers, but when he gets high in his pads, he leaves his chest exposed for the opponent to attack and lock on. Even with his speed, he is not much of a pass rusher, as he lacks any moves and will then get stranded at the line of scrimmage.
Drame might get washed out when he gets too erect in his stance, but when he keeps his pad level down, he can be very stout at the point of attack. He runs very well for a player his size, making a move to defensive end a strong possibility. He is developing the hand strength needed to pull and jerk, but is also adequate at getting a push to squeeze the pocket. This is still a work in progress here, but with that athletic frame, long arms, good quickness and solid work ethic, he could be a very nice second-day draft find.
