TE Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

HT: 6-6, WT: 264, Born: 5-14-1989, College: Arizona, Drafted: Round 2

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full ADP list]

Overall: D Thomas (23), S Ridley (24), Rob Gronkowski (25), D Murray (26), P Harvin (27)
Position: J Graham (18-TE1), Rob Gronkowski (25 - TE2), A Hernandez (43-TE3), J Witten (53-TE4)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

PPR Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: A Morris (17), D Thomas (18), Rob Gronkowski (19), M Jones-Drew (20), C Johnson (21)
Position: J Graham (13-TE1), Rob Gronkowski (19 - TE2), A Hernandez (39-TE3), J Witten (45-TE4)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Outlook

As of early May, Rob Gronkowski is still fighting off an infection after one of three arm surgeries after the broken arm he from 2012. Worse, he's still got one operation to go and there is no promise that 1) that will be the last one and 2) the infection will be cleared up enough for him to have it. This all puts his status for Week 1 in doubt and if he does need another surgery, he could miss more. Once he's back, he should be as effective as he ever has been but it's all in the timing. Plus, we'll have to see what, if any, effect missing the whole of Training Camp and Preseason might have on him once he gets started.

Latest News

Patriots | Rob Gronkowski surgery went smoothly (Tue May 21, 01:53 PM) - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that arm surgery for TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm, back) received 'as good a report as we could hope for.'

Our View: Good news for Gronk, Patriots fans, and fantasy owners here. Now Gronkowski will examine the possibility of having minor back surgery in a few weeks. His status for week one is still up in the air. We'll know more when/if we see Gronkowski during training camp.
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Patriots | Rob Gronkowski to meet with doctor about back (Mon May 20, 06:39 PM) - New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm, back) plans to meet with a doctor in California in about three to four weeks to decide whether he will need to undergo back surgery.

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Patriots | Doctors believe Rob Gronkowski's infection cleared (Mon May 20, 05:35 PM) - New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm, back) underwent surgery Monday, May 20, to replace the plate in his forearm. The doctors believe the infection in his forearm has cleared.

Our View: Good news for Gronkowski here. Without an infection he won't need to undergo a fifth procedure on his forearm. However, he still needs minor back surgery which may be scheduled in the next few weeks.
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Patriots | Rob Gronkowski will undergo surgery Monday (Sun May 19, 01:45 PM) - New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm, back) is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday, May 20, on his injured forearm. The doctors are expected to take cultures from his forearm to see if the infection is still there. If there is no infection, the plate in his forearm will be replaced and Gronkowski would start a 10- to 11-week rehab process. The plate will not be replaced if there is still signs of an infection.

Our View: Gronkowski could have a fifth surgery on the forearm if an infection is there. He also has to undergo minor back surgery but the doctors didn't want to schedule his surgeries too close together. Sources close to Gronkowski say he'll be ready for training camp but nothing is set in stone.
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Patriots | Rob Gronkowski's back injury new (Fri May 17, 06:15 PM) - New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski's (back) problem with a disc in his back is not related to the disc problem he had while in college in 2009. Gronkowski underwent a procedure to fix his back problem in college. It is not known when Gronkowski suffered his current injury.

Our View: This issue is considered minor at this point. However, a surgery on this minor back problem could take about 10 weeks to recover from. The start of the regular season is about 16 weeks away, and the back surgery will have to wait until a few weeks after Gronkowski's forearm surgery scheduled for Monday.
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More News

2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Over the past few weeks, Gronkowski’s stock has been falling. Many are skeptical of him being able to duplicate his 2011 numbers. I think this game showed why those fears are greatly exaggerated. On the 2nd play of the 2nd drive , Gronk hauled in a play-action pass on a slant and outran the defense for a huge 28 yard gain. Then later in the 1st half, he continued to show his unstoppable nature on the goalline, as Brady hit him over the shoulder for a signature fade-route TD. In the passing game, Gronkowski is option 1, and with his abilities, it’s rare that Brady has to look him off. The only thing that might keep his TD’s down, is Stevan Ridley. Even though he was pretty quiet outside of those two plays, he’s going to have a huge season.

Week 2 - Newsflash: Gronkowski is a big target, and hard to take down. Ok, now that we’ve covered the basics… Gronkowski was a major target for Brady, but did disappear at times and dropped a sure TD pass. He made up for it with the score near the end of the game, and then was targeted (but overthrown) on the ensuing 2-pt conversion. On the final drive in particular, Brady really began to lock in on him – they have a great rapport together, which will be even more important if Aaron Hernandez is out for any length of time. One black mark on Gronkowski this game: he was called for holding on a touchdown play on the final drive, which forced the Pats to kick a field goal… which went wide.

Week 3 - Gronk did not catch his first pass of the game until five minutes into the second quarter. The reception came on a play where the line rolled right while he rolled left on a crossing route. He also did not have a catch after the second quarter. Most of the offensive game plan was designed around LLoyd, Welker and Edelman, with Gronkowski staying in to block.

Week 4 - Gronkowski had an uncharacteristically inconsistent outing in Buffalo. He started off the day with a massive reception behind the secondary. Gronkowski made an excellent reception over his shoulder on a perfectly thrown pass from Brady near the right sideline. Brady went straight back to Gronkowski open in the flat as he carried the ball forward for five yards. Carrying the ball forward was an issue on his next reception however as Gronkowski fumbled the ball. He caught a wide open pass on an excellent throw from Brady over the middle, but despite already having the first down and moving sideways across the field with two defenders on him, Gronkowski didn't go down. That gave Jairus Byrd the opportunity to rip the ball free. Gronkowski followed that up with a drop when he got in behind the secondary again only to allow a Stephon Gilmore hit to cause him to lose the ball. He then dropped a pass over the middle at the goalline with a defender arriving before being open for a first down reception on an out route and catching a wide open touchdown pass down the seam thanks to a blown coverage. It was potentially the easiest reception of his career.

Week 5 - In a game that featured 50 carries for the running backs, Gronkowski was sparsely involved in the passing game for the Patriots. Most of his action came on short targets that relied on Gronkowski to break a tackle for a significant gain. His biggest opportunity came on a route that Gronkowski came wide open over the middle for a potential gain of more than 15 yards. Brady airmailed the throw over the huge tight end to squander the chance at a decent fantasy performance. Late in the third quarter, Gronkowski pushed off a defender for an offensive pass interference penalty in tight coverage to end his pretty non-descript day.

Week 6 - Gronkowski was an early favorite target for Brady, but took a big shot in the first quarter from two Seahawks and didn`t seem to be the same player afterwards. He finished with 6 catches for 60 yards, most of which he accrued early on in the game. Gronkowski was physical after the catch, often requiring more than one defender to take him down – as usual. It was clear however that something wasn`t right – perhaps his nagging hip injury.

Week 7 - Gronkowski continues to victimize the Jets. During his team’s second drive, Gronkowski secured his first pass on a in-route for a 19-yard gain. Gronkowski battled Jet linebackers for additional yardage as he kept his legs moving after the catch. Four plays later, Gronkowski ran a beautiful corner route, laid out, and hauled in the 17-yard touchdown pass. For such a big man, Gronkowski demonstrated impressive body control to adjust to the ball. On his team’s next drive, Gronkowski once again found the soft spot in the Jet zone defense, picking up 16 yards and a first down. During the first half, Gronkowski hauled in three passes, all on third downs, for 49 yards and a touchdown.

On his team’s first drive after halftime, Brady found Gronkowski on a drag route for a 1-yard touchdown catch. Unlike his first touchdown reception, this catch was an easy, routine catch for Gronkowski.

Facing a 26-23 deficit with just 1:23 to go in the fourth quarter, Brady began feeding the ball to Gronkowski. Brady’s first two completions during this drive went to Gronkowski. Gronkowski secured the first catch for 15 yards down the seam. Brady went right back to Gronkowski for a 12-yard gain. Gronkowski tacked on five additional yards by lowering his pad level and running through Jet defenders. After two relatively quiet weeks, Gronkowski re-established why he is one of the best red zone targets in the NFL.

Week 8 - Gronkowski was his normal dominant self with the added bonus that the Rams simply forgot about him on two plays. His first reception came off play-action and the Rams chose to let him run free across the middle for a 25 yard gain. Two plays later he made a leaping catch on a perfectly thrown ball from Brady, landing just shy of the goal line for another 25 yard gain. He had three receptions on the Patriots next drive, the first being a screen pass that he turned into a 16 yard gain. He then made a nice catch on a cross over the middle and punished two defenders before being hauled down for a 32 yard gain. Gronkowski finished this drive off himself, hauling in a bullet from Brady under tight coverage for a score. His second score wasn’t near as difficult when the Rams again left Gronkowski wide open, this time for a 14 yard touchdown on a seam route.

Week 10 - Gronkowski only received four targets, catching three for 31 yards and a TD. Gronkowski also drew a questionable (one of many) interference call in the end zone setting up a Ridley TD run. Gronkowski’s long went for 24 yards and was a real beauty between the TE and QB. Brady perfectly touched the pass over the underneath coverage to Gronkowski who was in-between the coverage on what was one of his only routes without a defender on his hip. Gronkowski’s TD catch was a marvel, one that has become the norm for the uber athletic TE. Running to the corner, Brady put the throw out in front of Gronkowski, who had to lay out to complete the catch and corral it before crashing out of bounds. Gronkowski made the play look easy despite its obvious difficulty. Buffalo has struggled tremendously against TEs all season, but did a relatively good job doubling Gronkowski with a LB off the line and a safety over the top and forcing Brady to look elsewhere. Never trailing, the game script didn’t call for much else than chain movers and Brady gladly took the open underneath routes rather than forcing it to Gronkowski.

Week 11 - Brady didn't wait long to look for Gronkowski, as he ran a deep seam route against a linebacker. Gronkowski caught the ball before absorbing a hit from an incoming safety for a big gain. Gronkowski caught a pass for 16 yards down the left sideline over a safety. It was a backshoulder throw that is basically impossible to defend. Like many teams, the Colts had no answer for Gronkowski as he easily ran away from a linebacker for a short, simple touchdown. After a Julian Edelman punt return for a touchdown, Brady went straight back to Gronkowski in single coverage underneath. He beat Jerrell Freeman for a first down. Another out route was from Gronkowski couldn't have been an easier 31 yard gain if it was in seven-on-seven. After an Andrew Luck turnover in the third quarter, Gronkowski ran a seam route and caught a pass wide open for the touchdown. Left in single coverage over the middle again, Gronkowski this time ran away from Antoine Bethea for an important third down conversion. The news for Gronkowski owners took a terrible turn on an extra point in the late fourth quarter, when he broke his forearm. The injury will sideline him for at least four weeks, and possibly until the playoffs begin.

Week 17 - After missing five games with his forearm injury, Gronkowski returned for limited snaps against Miami to get ready for the playoffs. He saw just a handful of snaps and when he was on the field, Brady looked for him frequently. Both of his receptions were vintage Gronkowski plays catching balls deep down the seam against over-matched coverage. The second reception was the clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter as he came wide open in the red zone. Gronkowski dropped a high target in the third quarter that he makes 9-of-10 times, which would have boosted his yardage total by 15-20 yards. Despite missing five full games and playing sparingly in Week 17, Gronkowski was TE5 in PPR scoring on the season with a huge lead over the field in PPG.

Week 19 - Gronkowski only played two drives, receiving only one target. Matched up in single coverage with DE Antonio Smith, Gronkowski easily beat him on the vertical route, but the throw took the TE out of bounds. As he went to the ground, Gronkowski used his recently healed arm to break his fall and was in obvious pain when he stood up. Gronkowski immediately left the game and did not return as it appeared he re-broke his arm on the play.