Get it shawtaay

That's a damn good question.

fester

Given that the Patriots believe there are two types of tight ends (F and Y) and Gronk is a prototypical Y tight end, and Hernandez is a prototypical F tight end, it is not surprising that Hernandez is not able to fill a role that has him playing significantly out of position.

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Get it shawtaay

Gronk is not a prototypical anything. He is the only tight end in the NFL with his blend of skills.

Marqui

They're not trading Hernandez.

JackBauer

My thoughts? He's young, awesome, and will only get better.

Frisbetarian

Hernandez definitely did not have as good a season in 2012 as he did in 2011. He caught a lower percentage of passes thrown his way (60.7% vs. 69.9%), as ivan detailed in the opening post, and also dropped 10 passes, the 2nd highest total in the NFL (to Graham's 15) among TE's, but the highest drop percentage among the 21 TE's targeted 50%+ of the time, 16.4%. This compares to only 5 drops and a 5.9% drop percentage in 2011.

The question is, how much of Sweet Leaf's drop off can be attributed to injury, how much to skill, and how much to not having Gronkowski on the field? My sense, although there is no way to definitively prove this, is that injury played a huge role in Hernandez' 2012 down season.

In 2011 he was ranked very highly by all of the available advanced football metrics. Football Outsiders placed him as the 9th best TE in football according to Defense Adjusted Yards Against Replacement (DYAR - explanation here), while Pro Football Focus rated him the 5th best TE in the game (their rating system can be found here). Whether you believe these metrics or not, and there is good reason to be skeptical (although it is worth noting that one Rob Gronkowski was by far the best TE according to both sites in 2011), it still is clear that Aaron Hernandez had a great 2011 season at the age of 21/22. He caught 76.5% of the passes thrown his way in the slot in 2011, 2nd best among TE's, and gained 1.9 yards per route run, the 4th highest total for a TE. His 2012 ratings on both advanced stat sites were way down (Gronk was first on both again, although not by as great a margin), as were his reception percentage and drop percentage, but, again, he was dealing with injuries all season.

Hernandez is versatile player who has accomplished much at the age of 23, and has, imo, tons of untapped potential. There is no way I would consider trading him

fester

Disagree --- every scout, every coach, every GM will be looking at draftable tight-ends who can play the F position as compared against Gronk.

Player Z has the in-line blocking and the hands of Gronk BUT not the down the seam explosiveness.

Player X has the down the seam explosiveness as Gronk but will get rag dolled on the edge.

etc

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Off The Grid

Actually, Player Z usually provides crappy in-line Blocking and tremendous down the seam explosiveness, while Player X tends to have considerably less explosiveness and is far less likely to get rag dolled than Player Z...

But I see what you're saying.

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Palm Beach Pats Fan

plenty?

Calvin Johnson is arguably one, at 6'5" 236, vs. Aaron 6'1" 245.

Vincent Jackson is listed at 6'5', 230.

Plaxico Burress was listed at 6'5", 232.

Several WRs top Aaron in height but I am not aware of any at all that are listed at both a higher height and a higher weight.

Aaron would be one of the largest WRs in the NFL if he played there full time.

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Sicilian

Hernandez's value isn't really measured by stats alone (though his stats for a TE are still well above average). Offense in the NFL is all about finding mismatches, and AH provides some damn good ones. If he's lined up tight to the line, you can't put a corner on him or he'll get bowled over in the running game (not necessarily by AH, but because that's where the big boys play). And if he's covered by a safety or linebacker, he's got the quickness and route running ability to get open more often than not.

Combine that with his ability to make people miss and get YAC, and he's a weapon that defenses have to account for. That's his true value.