Why Rob Gronkowski was the Patriots' one irreplaceable player

Why Rob Gronkowski was the Patriots' one irreplaceable player

NFL News

Why Rob Gronkowski was the Patriots' one irreplaceable player


Is Tom Brady the greatest quarterback in NFL history? Well, sure. There’s a list of names, but he’s certainly up there.

But is Tom Brady the most irreplaceable player on the Patriots’ roster? That’s an entirely different question, and one that sends the concept of player value in a different direction. There’s no way New England wins six Super Bowls—or even one Super Bowl–without Brady, especially when he was at his best, but since 2010, it’s arguable that the player hardest to replace on the Patriots roster has been Rob Gronkowski, who retired on Sunday after a career that was equally filled with glory and injury.

First, there’s the question of how Brady has performed with and without Gronk since 2010, and the splits are kind of alarming. Through December 2017, per ESPN Stats & Information, Brady’s completion percentage dipped from 66% to 62% with Gronk off the field. His yards per attempt dropped a full yard from 8.0 to 7.0. His total QBR went from 79 to 63, and his touchdown to interception ratio… hold your breath on this one… went from 5.29 to 2.95. In other words, Brady was throwing more than five touchdowns to every one interception with Gronk, and less than three touchdowns to every one pick without him.

That final number isn’t all that surprising, given what a peerless red zone and end zone target Gronk was. These two touchdowns in New England’s loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII –the first, a slant and the second, a fade—show just how impossible it is to take Gronk on one-on-one, especially when you reveal coverage beforehand.

And this touchdown against the Texans last season showed just how futile it was to cover him with more than one defender–with his size, physicality, and short-area awareness, it was generally no contest no matter how many defenders were in his way.

This was also proven on the last reception of Gronkowski’s career–this 29-yard catch halfway through the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII set up Sony Michel’s game-winning run, and again, it didn’t matter whether or not you knew the ball was gong to Gronk, because it was going to Gronk anyway, and he was likely to catch it.

Showy stuff, and when Gronk goes into the Hall of Fame, his highlight reel will be as packed as any. But it’s not this stuff that makes him an offensive asset that’s impossible to replace. What makes him impossible to replace, at least within one human being, is his blocking. Not only was Gronk quite possibly the best blocking tight end in NFL history even with all his injuries, but that specific ability, combined with his receiving, made every snap for every defense a placement and mathematics problem that was impossible to solve.

If Gronk was the X-iso receiver–the wide guy alone to the formation–you had to put a cornerback on him, and possibly bracket that cornerback with a safety. As we’ve seen, good luck with that. If Gronk was in-line, he could be a devastating blocker for a run play, or he could chip the end and run 30 yards up the seam for a touchdown. As a result, whether you played your base defense or your sub-package defense, you were likely guessing wrong. And through the 2010s, as sub-packages became default base defenses, it didn’t become any easier. Gronkowski slowed the reaction time of any defense because he presented a 10-out-of-10 value in the run game and in the passing game. It’s difficult to overstate the value of that.

Imagine if Randy Moss blocked like a sixth lineman. Imagine if Tom Brady also had the kind of mobility that would allow him to run for 600 yards and 10 touchdowns per season. Imagine if Adrian Peterson could run option routes like Wes Welker, or if Earl Thomas was also good for 10 sacks a year. That’s what the Patriots had in Rob Gronkowski through most of the last nine seasons–the exceedingly rare player to combine two radically diverse skills at the highest possible level. It’s not quite Babe Ruth becoming Major League Baseball’s home run champ after spending the 1910s as its best left-handed pitcher, but it’s as close as you’ll see outside of the two-way era in the NFL.

And imagine if the great tight ends throughout history could combine the two primary requirements of the position as Gronkowski did. Think of John Mackey or Mike Ditka beating dime defenses on 25-yard post patterns, or Tony Gonzalez, Kellen Winslow, or Antonio Gates blocking like small left tackles. Or, think of the two top tight ends in the 2019 draft–T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant. Both players from Iowa, and the Pats might be able to get one of them if they trade up, but they’d either get the better blocker in Hockenson, or the more dynamic downfield receiver in Fant. To somehow get both seems too much to ask.

You don’t get both at a Hall of Fame level unless you have Gronk. That’s why he’s the greatest tight end in NFL history, and that’s why he’ll be so difficult to replace. I have no doubt that Bill Belichick and his staff will scheme it up post-Gronk as few others could, but they’ll have to do it differently now, because they’re losing a player whose like has not been seen before.




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