Super Bowl Update

TROY – Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were a part of Troy sophomore B.J. Chitty’s transformation to a more physical player, but the Northview standout certainly put in the work on his own.

Chitty, a receiver who played quarterback at Northview, is poised to build off a season where he had 16 catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers aren’t bad for a freshman, but he was challenged in the offseason to become better.

“I didn’t have such a good season last year,” Chitty said. “This year, I’ve got a year under my belt. I feel a little older. I feel better with what I’m doing. (The coaches) told me I needed to gain a few pounds.”

Plenty of schools around the country wanted Chitty out of high school, but he settled on Troy. When he got here in 2010, he was around 175 pounds. Now, the 6-foot-2 Chitty weighs in at 203 pounds and isn’t nearly as skinny as his high school teammates may remember him.

The result on the field? Not only has Chitty made the transformation from quarterback – which isn’t as easy as it sounds – but he’s learned to become a better blocker and use his body to catch passes in traffic.

“As I’ve gotten to learn the position more, it was a whole lot of changing I had to do,” Chitty said. “I had to develop a whole different swag.

“You can’t be out there with a quarterback mindset. You’ve got to block. You’ve got to hit people. You’ve got to catch balls in traffic and you can’t run out of bounds when you want to.

“You’ve got to toughen up out there.”

Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said that most young skill players don’t know how to block or choose not to block. He said Chitty’s improved on that, as well as other areas, and had one of the best preseason camps among anyone. Troy opens its season at UAB on Saturday at 11 a.m.

“I really like B.J Chitty,” Blakeney said. “I probably don’t talk enough about him. He is really one that has dedicated himself to getting better and getting bigger and stronger. That’s going to help him when we line up and play.”

Chitty said when he first got to Troy and made the position switch, he had a hard time blocking. That, plus a broken hand early in camp, led to a redshirt in 2010.

“I was getting thrown out there,” Chitty said. “It was technique. You don’t have to be a big person to block. You’ve just got to know how to do it.”

Now, Chitty has upped his bench press to around 315 pounds, he said. Along with eating more protein, he said he would take a peanut butter (smooth) and jelly (grape) sandwich to class for a snack in between meals.

Troy rotates several players at receiver, and now Chitty is listed as the second team Z-receiver behind last year’s leading receiver Eric Thomas. Even if he’s not the starter, Chitty could see upwards of 40 snaps a game.

He’s putting himself in position to be a big-time playmaker for the Trojans, and that could even come this fall.

“I knew coming in I’d have to step my game up in order to be a No. 1 receiver and that’s what I plan on being one day,” Chitty said. “Right now, it’s just a work in progress.”