So Now People Are Saying Gronk Isn't the Best Tight End in Football?

Source – Former Patriots executive Mike Lombardi got Patriots fans’ attention last week when on The Ringer’s GM Street podcast he said Rob Gronkowski has lost some of his quickness.

“Gronk doesn’t have the same quickness that he once had,” he said on the podcast. “The great combination of Gronk and Aaron Hernandez — Aaron Hernandez was quick, Gronk was quick and explosive. Gronk is more of a builder of speed now. People are playing for that, so none of those underneath routes really apply to Gronk. It’s got to be throws up the field. That limits what you do offensively and I think that’s the challenge for New England.”

… Bill Belichick was asked about the comments and if he feels Gronkowski has lost some of his quickness. The Patriots coach didn’t really dispute what Lombardi said.

“I don’t know, that is a hard question,” Belichick said. “You know how it is week-to-week. Sometimes you feel a little better one week than others. Overall, he has been a pretty effective player for us this year and has been able to make plays down the field. He has been able to make plays in the intermediate zones. He’s had a couple catch-and-run plays, so I think he’s still been been pretty effective.”

So this is a thing now? We’re questioning whether Rob Gronkowski is still the best tight end in football? And questioning Bill Belichick about whether Gronk is the best tight end in football? This is what we’ve been reduced to?

If I made a list of all storylines I expected to hear a quarter of the way through the season, I probably would’ve put “Gronk is losing it” at the bottom of the list somewhere between “Browns copyright ’19-0′” and “Arthur Blank joins ISIS.” And yet here we are. The question of Gronk’s lost step and Belichick’s semi-evasive non-answer are the big topics on both Boston sports stations today. Which pretty much confirms what I’ve been suspecting for a while now, that early this year I fell through a portal in my wall and have spent all of 2018 in the Upside Down.

Even the geek workers in the analytics sweatshop run by Cris Collinsworth are backing up the idea:

With all due respect to Booger McFarland, and by that I mean with no respect whatsoever, there is no reality (not even the Upside Down) in which Travis Kelce is a better tight end than Gronk. Not this year. Not last. And unless Gronk loses at least one and a half limbs, not in the future. Compare their numbers.

Gronkowski:

Kelce:

Apart from the fact Gronk had more yards than Kelce last year despite playing fewer games, almost 2 1/2 more yards per catch over their careers and three times as many touchdowns at the same age, what else could make me argue Gronkowski is a better tight end? Well, this for one:

He’s the best blocking tight end in the league. So much so, he’s been underutilized as a red zone target so far this year. On 3rd & goal of the Patriots opening drive, he stayed home in pass protection as Brady target Cordarelle Patterson on a pass that had no shot. Which is a situation I expect will be rectified starting with Indy this Thursday.

Has Gronkowski lost a step? If so, I’m not seeing it. But then again, no one’s down the practice field timing his measurables the 40. All that shows up on the game tape is a guy teams have to account for with a double team every single time he comes off the line, and even when he’s covered he’s still open. And with all due respect to Kelce, George Kittle, OJ Howard and the rest of them, all I see is the perfect human specimen to play that position on planet Earth. And someone who will be until Belichick genetically engineers his replacement. Travis Kelce is the best tight end, my ass.