Gronkowski is the best ever

[mosi]

Still think his play in the 2015 AFCGC was better but this was a close second. He is dominant and can literally take a game over.

 

[Angelpats]

He’s going to be dominant the next two games also. He will at least get 200 yards and Brady will make sure it happens. He will reach all his incentives:

 

[Bruins29]

He’s going to be dominant the next two games also. He will at least get 200 yards and Brady will make sure it happens. He will reach all his incentives:

I would rather they spread it around. When one player has to perform this way it puts in jeopardy the health of that one player.

 

[Ring 6]

If Gronk does end up retiring early I would still think of him as one of the greatest ever.

Sandy Koufax, Shaquille Oneal always come to mind when I think of comparisons to other sports.

He is already 8th in TE receiving yards and 4td in TE TD receptions all time

 

[Ring 6]

I would rather they spread it around. When one player has to perform this way it puts in jeopardy the health of that one player.

No it doesn’t. Are you saying he is better off getting open and having Brady ignore him because throwing to him is scary because he might get hurt?

By the way Gronk getting 200 yards in these next 2 games IS spreading it around.

 

[Bruins29]

No it doesn’t. Are you saying he is better off getting open and having Brady ignore him because throwing to him is scary because he might get hurt?

By the way Gronk getting 200 yards in these next 2 games IS spreading it around.

Sorry, I read it as 200 yards per game. Nevermind. 100 yards a game is perfect.

 

[Biffins]

He is the greatest all time when healthy. But IDK if he is the greatest all time overall. It depends how you define that. He is right now a fairly young 28.

He has 7112 yards and 75 TDs, He should easily pass guys like Olson, Smith and Newsome if he keeps playing to just 30... Oslon is still going but clearly on the decline. There are a lot of guys ahead of him and his body has taken a beating over the years. I will look just at stats and not blocking.

Gonzo - (37yrs old his last year) 15,127 111 TDs (done)
Witten - (35yrs old this year) 12,392 69 TDs (almost done)
Sharpe (35yrs old his last year) 10,060 68 TDs (done)
Gates (37yrs old this year) 11,381 113 TDs (almost done)

I wonder if he will be able to rack up the stats to be in this group. He might finish with the most TDs of all time but if he reaches much over 12,000 yards I will be kind of surprised.

Unlike these guys I don't see Gronk playing past age 32... 33 tops. If he plays till 37 and is fairly healthy the rest of the way he has a good chance to have more yards than Gonzo but I don't see it.

Who is the greatest running back of all time. Most would agree Jim Brown.

He is #10 on rushing yards list. Being the greatest is not just about longevity and volume stats. Clearly you can't be a 1 season wonder, but sustaining greatness over 7-8 years is enough. Doesn't have to be 15. BTW Terrelle Davis got into HoF for 3 good seasons and nothing else.

1 Emmitt Smith^ Dallas Cowboys (1990–2002)
Arizona Cardinals (2003–2004) 4,409 18,355 4.2
2 Walter Payton^ Chicago Bears (1975–1987) 3,838 16,726 4.4
3 Barry Sanders^ Detroit Lions (1989–1998) 3,062 15,269 5.0
4 Curtis Martin^ New England Patriots (1995–1997)
New York Jets (1998–2005) 3,518 14,101 4.0
5 Frank Gore* San Francisco 49ers (2005–2014)
Indianapolis Colts (since 2015) 3,185 13,858 4.4
6 LaDanian Tomlinson^ San Diego Chargers (2001–2009)
New York Jets (2010–2011) 3,174 13,684 4.3
7 Jerome Bettis^ St. Louis/L.A. Rams (1993–1995[a])
Pittsburgh Steelers (1996–2005) 3,479 13,662 3.9
8 Eric ****erson^ Los Angeles Rams (1983–1987)
Indianapolis Colts (1987–1991)
Los Angeles Raiders (1992)
Atlanta Falcons (1993) 2,996 13,259 4.4
9 Tony Dorsett^ Dallas Cowboys (1977–1987)
Denver Broncos (1988) 2,936 12,739 4.3
10 Jim Brown^ Cleveland Browns (1957–1965) 2,359 12,312 5.2

 

[Angelpats]

I would rather they spread it around. When one player has to perform this way it puts in jeopardy the health of that one player.

Definitely, our team is on another level when everyone gets the ball. I just read an article aboutGronk getting 2mill on that game winning drive by getting 1000 yards. 200 more and he gets all his incentives. I just don’t want him getting hurt doing it. Spreading it around helps with that, but we need other guys to get open though.

 

[primetime]

If you're going to ignore longevity altogether then you should probably declare OJ the greatest running back of all-time. He accounted for over half his team's total offense in his 2,000 yard season. No other running back even comes close to that.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

I was a Gonzalez fan. If gronk can get to 100 TDs i would put him above Gonzalez. I still think gronk's better because he's a physical specimen. It's like when shaq entered the nba.

 

[BobDigital]

I’m not sure how longevity puts Mackey ahead of Gronk.
Gronk has played 100 games, Mackey played 139 but in 39 fewer games Gronks numbers destroy Mackey.

Gronk 469/7112/75
Mackey 331/5236/38

So if Gronk plays 39 more games and doesn’t catch a pass, he moves ahead but hasn’t yet?

Nope. I use stats cause they are nice and easy to look at but not all stats are equal. The numbers Mackey put up were pretty huge for the time. We need to keep in mind what the passing game was then. To pass Mackey IMO Gronk needs to play 39 more games and keep up the current pace he has pretty much. If he does that it would be fair to put him past Mackey.

Also some people here have Ditka over Mackey and i think that is fair too. I consider Mackey/Ditka/Gonzo all in the same tier. I strongly believe Gonzo is the clear #1 though for now. Gronk can become #1 some day but he has to play longer than he has.

Right now he is the best TE ever when at his height IMO. I don't know if that is automatically makes him the best of all time. I would argue it does not.

 

[BobDigital]

Who is the greatest running back of all time. Most would agree Jim Brown.

He is #10 on rushing yards list. Being the greatest is not just about longevity and volume stats. Clearly you can't be a 1 season wonder, but sustaining greatness over 7-8 years is enough. Doesn't have to be 15. BTW Terrelle Davis got into HoF for 3 good seasons and nothing else.

1 Emmitt Smith^ Dallas Cowboys (1990–2002)
Arizona Cardinals (2003–2004) 4,409 18,355 4.2
2 Walter Payton^ Chicago Bears (1975–1987) 3,838 16,726 4.4
3 Barry Sanders^ Detroit Lions (1989–1998) 3,062 15,269 5.0
4 Curtis Martin^ New England Patriots (1995–1997)
New York Jets (1998–2005) 3,518 14,101 4.0
5 Frank Gore* San Francisco 49ers (2005–2014)
Indianapolis Colts (since 2015) 3,185 13,858 4.4
6 LaDanian Tomlinson^ San Diego Chargers (2001–2009)
New York Jets (2010–2011) 3,174 13,684 4.3
7 Jerome Bettis^ St. Louis/L.A. Rams (1993–1995[a])
Pittsburgh Steelers (1996–2005) 3,479 13,662 3.9
8 Eric ****erson^ Los Angeles Rams (1983–1987)
Indianapolis Colts (1987–1991)
Los Angeles Raiders (1992)
Atlanta Falcons (1993) 2,996 13,259 4.4
9 Tony Dorsett^ Dallas Cowboys (1977–1987)
Denver Broncos (1988) 2,936 12,739 4.3
10 Jim Brown^ Cleveland Browns (1957–1965) 2,359 12,312 5.2

That is a good point. I never said it was just about stats though. You need to factor in era and dominance in your time. I doubt anyone judges best all time by a stat sheet alone but they are useful.

I would put Calvin Johnson, for instance, as a top 10 WR of all time even though his career totals are meh.

 

[Off The Grid]

If you're going to ignore longevity altogether then you should probably declare OJ the greatest running back of all-time. He accounted for over half his team's total offense in his 2,000 yard season. No other running back even comes close to that.

Wonder when OJ's gonna pull out the soon to be famous CTE Defense?

 

[Bruins29]

Nope. I use stats cause they are nice and easy to look at but not all stats are equal. The numbers Mackey put up were pretty huge for the time. We need to keep in mind what the passing game was then. To pass Mackey IMO Gronk needs to play 39 more games and keep up the current pace he has pretty much. If he does that it would be fair to put him past Mackey.

Also some people here have Ditka over Mackey and i think that is fair too. I consider Mackey/Ditka/Gonzo all in the same tier. I strongly believe Gonzo is the clear #1 though for now. Gronk can become #1 some day but he has to play longer than he has.

Right now he is the best TE ever when at his height IMO. I don't know if that is automatically makes him the best of all time. I would argue it does not.

There were still plenty of receivers putting up 1000 yard seasons (in 14 games) even in the mid 60s when Mackey played so his numbers arent overly impresseve given the production of his peers. As I pointed out Mackey was not even the best TE in the game for a couple of years while in his prime.

Gronk has not only been the best TE in the game every year he has played but he has been one of the best players in the NFL every year he has played -when healthy. Also, Gronk is considered one of the biggest receiving threats in the NFL - An NFL when much more passing is the norm, which make his accomplishments even that more impressive.

 

[bbobbo]

My Brother texted just before the drive "Would not be mad if we went gronk gronk slip to d Lew, gronk gronk gronk."

is that an excerpt from "A Gronking to Remember"?

 

[Ring 6]

Nope. I use stats cause they are nice and easy to look at but not all stats are equal. The numbers Mackey put up were pretty huge for the time.

They were not nearly as huge compared to peers as grinds are though.

We need to keep in mind what the passing game was then. To pass Mackey IMO Gronk needs to play 39 more games and keep up the current pace he has pretty much. If he does that it would be fair to put him past Mackey.

So no player who played fewer games can be better than a player who played more? Mackey played 39 more games than Gronk had and 27 were in his last 2 seasons where he was no longer effective and he put up a total of 22 catches 253 yards 0 TDs.
Gronk has done more (even era adjusted) in 100 games than Mackey did in 139

Also some people here have Ditka over Mackey and i think that is fair too. I consider Mackey/Ditka/Gonzo all in the same tier. I strongly believe Gonzo is the clear #1 though for now. Gronk can become #1 some day but he has to play longer than he has.

Ditka had 6 seasons as a top player then left Chicago and hung around for more years as a backup type player averaging just 18.5 catches 218 yards and 1.5 TDs so he should be penalized for longevity.

Right now he is the best TE ever when at his height IMO. I don't know if that is automatically makes him the best of all time. I would argue it does not.

Gonzales was very good (as a receiver) for very long and tat does matter but none of those other guys were good for longer than what Gronk has already done.

Gronk has played better TE in the time he has been in the league than anyone. The only player who was close enough that doing it longer reasonably puts him ahead as the goat is Gonzales. Mackey and ditka aren’t close

 

[Bruins29]

Mackey and ditka aren’t close

Agreed, I am not even sure how this is being debated, or even why for that matter.

 

[signbabybrady]

is that an excerpt from "A Gronking to Remember"?

Never read the book but it might have moved a little on the last drive.

 

[jah]

Well, the fans, players, and coaches seem to agree...Kelce is better.

(he's the Pro Bowl starter, Gronk is backup)

 

[patriot1136]

Are teams even trying to double Gronk? You would think that they would. Also, if he is doubled, that should leave someone else open.