This is huge. TE's and bigger bodied WR's are key in the red zone if you're more than a few yards out and have to try to throw it in. After Gronk, we probably have the worst TE corps in the league. And that's not even an exaggeration. They're just bodies there. After Dobson and LaFell, the Patriots don't have bigger bodied WR's either. So if Gronk goes down, your red zone offense takes a large hit as well. It's the reason why the red zone offense in 2009 was bad, suddenly improved in 2012, and was damn near unstoppable from 2011-2012 before it hit the skids again in early and late 2013.
Gronk is the best TE in the league, but the team needs an insurance policy behind him. I soured on the TE's in the draft, but there were available depth options in there. Jones may be the answer in short yardage situations... if he even makes the roster. A Keller addition would be nice and hopefully the team is still in contact with him. But, either way, the team still needs to do more at that position even if they're going away from being a 2TE offense.
Here's the full text for anyone who didn't read it as it contained some additional numbers as well:
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Looking at the Gronkowski Effect Last Season:
The news of Rob Gronkowski’s potential availability for week one was a positive sign on Monday, and his brief availability last season, while being short-lived, was still a reminder of what a difference maker he really is in this offense.
Looking back at how things went during the first six weeks of the season, between Danny Amendola missing games 2-4 along with Gronkowski’s absence, it’s amazing that New England was able to lose just one game over that span considering who Tom Brady had to work with.
Through the first six games Brady completed 136 passes on 239 attempts (57% completion rate) for 1480 yards along with 8 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He was also sacked 13 times.
Julian Edelman carried much of the weight of the offense, catching 41 passes for 411 yards and two touchdowns. Brady also leaned on him quite a bit on third down, with the receiver catching 12 of 16 targets, including 3 of 4 in the red zone along with his two scoring receptions.
When Gronkowski returned to the line-up in Week 7 against the Jets, things changed, although it didn’t start out for the better. Brady targeted the veteran tight end 17 times with just eight completions, including connecting just once on five tries on third down. His interception in the third quarter on a pass to Gronkowski ended up being one of the key plays of the game, after Antonio Allen picked the ball off at the Patriots own 23 yard line and took it in for a touchdown. That got the Jets back in the game and played a big part in New York’s win.
But from there, things certainly came together. Over the next six games Brady completed 160 of 238 attempts (67% completion rate) for 1977 yards along with 13 touchdowns. However, one of the biggest changes was down in the red zone where he had previous struggled. Through the first six games Brady completed just 16 passes on 33 attempts (48%) with seven touchdowns and one interception.
With Gronkowski back in the line-up, Brady’s success down in the red zone improved. Over the next six contests he completed 20-of-32 attempts (63%) with 10 touchdowns, three of which were caught by Gronkowski. Overall he completed over 60% of his passes during that stretch, connecting on 182-of-284 for 2205 yards along with 13 touchdowns.
After seeing Gronkowski carted off the field against the Browns following his torn ACL, Brady downplayed the loss of the tight end leading up to the Miami game, and said that having already been without him for much of the season they’d just have to adjust.
“It’s disappointing to lose anybody,” said Brady that Wednesday. “But we’ve faced that before this year and at different times, so I’d say at least we’re adjusted to it a little bit. We still have confidence that we can go out and win games. ”
They ended up losing that game in Miami, which cost them a shot at the number one seed in the playoffs and saw Brady so frustrated after it was over that
it ended in him dropping an expletive during his press conference before he walked away from the podium after just two questions.
Looking back at the numbers over the final three games after Gronkowski was lost for the season, they really struggled. Brady was just 6-of-18 down in scoring territory (33% completion rate) with just three touchdowns and an interception, and dropped back below 60% overall throwing the football while completing 62 passes on 105 attempts (59%) over that span along with four touchdowns and two picks.
Needless to say the news of a potential return to start the season is certainly good news. Brady can downplay Gronkowski’s importance but it’s obvious that he’s such a big difference maker when he’s on the field. It’s been a couple of years since he last played a full season, and hopefully 2014 will be the start of a better stretch for him moving forward.
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