1)Gronk is Gronk...putting him on the in season PUP so that he cannot even practice for almost 3 more months seems to be kind of pointless in my opinion. We have a 10 day mini bye after game 2 on TNF in NY. It's possible that he can miss the first 2 games and then return in 6 weeks at the end of September for game number 3.
2)Fells was the TE1 as recently as last week. He is clearly a very good blocker and proved to be leagues ahead of Hooman even last season when he was injured. He also has a good knowledge of the system and can pose a threat to the passing attack at times (at least as much as the average TE can do). He'll be needed while Gronk is still hurt, Ballard is slowly returning to full strength, and Sudfeld is getting his legs under him.
3)Ballard seems to be progressing from the "limping and hobbling" reports that we heard as recently as about 10-12 days ago when he missed some practices. He had his reps increased from 12 to 19 in Friday's game. Either way, he's staying.
4)Sudfeld looks like a keeper and is overachieving for a rookie. He appears to be developing some chemistry with Brady and the offense, and is definitely worth keeping. He obviously wouldn't make it to the PS.
That leaves Hooman....unless you want to believe that James Devlin is going to make the team because Belichick gave him 2 handoffs with the starting unit on Friday (which I personally do not believe). Even if Devlin somehow made the team, which is highly doubtful--why would that change our TE situation? He's not a clear cut TE and we'll be needing 3 active TE's at times, especially if/when Gronk misses some time, or Ballard needs a rest for a game.
opcorn:
