Do you think Gronkowski will ever be as good as he was in 2011?

Christiancat said:

Well in my view the situation is ultimately in God's hands.

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And I respect your viewpoint. Just disagree with it.

Unfortunately no......he will never get back to that incredible 2011 form....because he will NEVER stay healthy. If we've learned nothing else about Gronk it is that the guy is injury cursed and will be out a good part of every season......usually when all the chips are on the table and we really need him....sad but true.....

Brady6 said:

Gronkowski has been through a lot over the past 18-20 months, reconstructive knee surgery, multiple arm surgeries, and a back surgery. Given all his body has gone through I think it is legitimate to ask the question will he ever be the same player he was in 2011.

The positives are that he just turned 25 in mid-May, he certainly does not lack for confidence, and he seems to have a short memory.

I would go with yes, he can return to his prior form, maybe even improve upon it as he learns more about the game as he becomes older and more mature. What are everyone else thoughts?

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Maybe. Maybe not. He has been amazing in the past.

Three unknowns.

Age. We can't know whether he is just entering his prime or has passed through it.

Injuries. We won't know how thoroughly he has recovered until he's played a few games...neither, likely, will he. Saying someone is "Injury prone" sounds superstitious, but...

Conditioning. Another unknowable. He's gotten a reputation for partying, but that's probably mainly media hype. On the other hand, while I'm sure that Brady knows how to have a good time, #12 keeps it out of the news, unless you count bad dancing in Rio or Black Tie events in NYC, which aren't wild and crazy times.

So, maybe...maybe not.

I am going to predict right now that Gronk is going to come back, have a great year and win comeback player of the year award.

Gronk seems like one of those players who has freakish athletic ability/ability to heal like Adrian Peterson.

I hope Gronk never achieves such lofty stats ever again because that will mean the offense is relying too much on an injury prone TE.....NE has proven they can't score points in the playoffs vs. the best teams without this difference maker....so limit his reps until the playoffs....less between the twenties and more in the redzone/endzone. A full speed Gronk gets hurt too frequently...and I hate to write this next line but maybe Gronk should assume a Lloyd-like mindset..."catch and fall"...at least until the playoffs. Save the knees.

It depends on how many games he's healthy for and as pointed out with his life style and as he gets older it's less likely he will be that healthy. So for 3-6 game stretches yes. For a season no. The hope is he can put together one of those 3 game stretches in the playoffs.

stcjones said:

Unfortunately no......he will never get back to that incredible 2011 form....because he will NEVER stay healthy. If we've learned nothing else about Gronk it is that the guy is injury cursed and will be out a good part of every season......usually when all the chips are on the table and we really need him....sad but true.....

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How can you say this when he played 2 and a half seasons without injury. He has been injured at bad times, but the injuries that caused him to miss time would probably have made every player miss time. Once his luck changes, he will be tearing up the football field every season imo

WHat are the odds he plays a full season? I wish i could bet this on Bovada

Archeryaddict12 said:

How can you say this when he played 2 and a half seasons without injury. He has been injured at bad times, but the injuries that caused him to miss time would probably have made every player miss time. Once his luck changes, he will be tearing up the football field every season imo

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You don't count the playoffs as part of the 2011 season? He played two full regular seasons then got injured in the AFCCG. Played a lot of the 2012 season then was lost for the last part of it. Missed most of 2013 both recovering from the forearm injury then tore his ACL. It sucks to say, but the guy has been injured. That's why I've been disappointed that the team has not done more at the TE position. He's the absolute best in the league, when healthy, but you simply can't count on him to be there and have to do more behind him. That may be in the signing of a Keller (whose knee was absolutely destroyed last year) or they may stand pat with what they have behind him, which is very much in contention for worst in the league at that position.

No. He might be 'as good, when on field' - but I can't imagine him having another season like that again. Would it help/be amazing ? Of course. But it might never happen.

We need a pool going..i love betting and would love to bet on how many games he will play..12+