After nine seasons, Rob Gronkowski is hanging up his cleats for the last time (maybe) and now the debate begins…is he the greatest tight end of all time? His NFL numbers are telling…the second round pick out of Arizona, who clearly majored in “69ing,” earned five trips to the Pro Bowl. He was a First-team All-Pro four times, earning comeback player of the year in 2014. Most importantly, he won three championships with the Patriots.
Of course, we don’t care about that crap. We care about what he did in fantasy. Overall, his numbers are impressive for a tight end. He has 521 receptions for 7,861 yards and 79 scores. His 16,360 fantasy points is fourth most among all tight ends. When healthy, he was often a first or second round pick in our league. However, health issues robbed him of his prime a bit, which is why I would put him behind Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates in my “greatest tight end” rankings.
Anyhow, let’s take a quick walk back in time.
2010 SEASON
Undrafted | Rank #19 Get this, the dude scored 10 touchdowns for the season, including three scores against Pittsburgh. That just screams Colby pickup and trade offer for your best player. Yet, no one wanted him. Nobody drafted Gronkowski, no one bothered to pick him up off the wire. Of course, he did only finish 19th, which was 12 spots behind his teammate, Aaron “the killer” Hernandez.
2011 SEASON
Drafted in 8th Round by Richard Burrier | Rank #1 In what would be the bromance of the decade, Burrier reached for the hometown tight end and what happened? Magic happened. Magic being Rob Gronkowski would become the league’s hottest tight end since Boomer Esiason wore short shorts to the pro bowl. He would earn his first of what would be many first-team All-Robio awards, scoring a record breaking (for a TE) 2,568 points. Oddly enough, Burrier almost wasted Gronk’s stats, by dropping five of his last six games, nearly missing the playoffs. However, as a seven-seed, Rich managed to make it all the way to the title game. In that contest, Gronk scored 142 points in a 307-point defeat to Bob.
2012 SEASON
Kept in 8th Round by Richard Burrier | Rank #1 As the league’s top tight end, keeping Gronk in round eight was the kind of decision not even Richard “Anthony Thomas” Burrier could screw up. And for ten games, the Pats tight end was a beast. He was on pace for 2,400 fantasy points, scoring double digit touchdowns for the third straight season. However, injuries derailed his season (theme alert) and he was unable to finish the season for Rich (second theme alert). Burrier make it back to the playoffs and sneak off with one playoff win, when he stunned top-seed Griff, but he fell to Eric in the semifinals (all without Gronk).
2013 SEASON
Drafted in 4th Round by Colby Hall | Rank #11 Thanks to three surgeries to repair that arm, Gronkowski was desired about as much as Greenblatt with his shirt off. Yet, much like Greenblatt with his shirt off, Colby was interested and took the two-time 1st-team All-Robio tight end in the fourth round. Unfortunately, a Gronk/Hall relationship was never meant to be. He would miss the season’s first six games and with Colby being Colby, Gronk was traded to Bob the week he was expected to return (he did get in return the 4th best quarterback in Rivers and the 3rd best wideout in Jeffery). What Bob got was the league’s best tight end when he was playing. Over the next seven weeks, Mr. 69 delivered 592 yards and four scores, making him the top tight end during that time. Oddly enough, the stats didn’t turn into wins, as Bob dropped five straight down the stretch. In the season’s final week, Gronkowski would tear his ACL, which didn’t help Bob’s cause, as he eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Calderon.
2014 SEASON
Kept in 4th Round by Bob Castrone | Rank #1 Despite the late ACL tear, Bob decided Gronk was a must-keep in round four. The season started off slowly, he missed one game and didn’t start in six others, yet Gronk being Gronk, he still finished with over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns, easily outscoring the second best tight end by 504 points. He was one of three 1st-team All-Robio players for Bob’s 2014 squad, which, based on our math, is the greatest team ever. That team lost just three times, scoring a record setting 25,509 points for a full season, earning Bob his fourth career title. In the one-point win over Matt in the championship bout, Gronk scored 122 fantasy points. This would prove to be his only championship.
2015 SEASON
Drafted in 1st Round by Bob Castrone | Rank #1 Deciding to keep Le’Veon Bell in round two, Bob decided he liked having the league’s top tight end very much and used the last pick in the first round to keep him around for another season. He certainly proved worthy of the pick. Gronk would again earn a first-team All-Robio award; his fourth in five seasons, scoring 2,402 points, becoming just the second tight end in history to break 2,400 points twice in a single season. He did this while missing one game because of injury. Oddly enough, Gronkowski would be the only first-team All-Robio player for a Bob team that won 11 games, earning a second-straight top seed. However, a second straight championship was out of the question, as Colby knocked Bob out of the playoffs in the semifinals. In two plus seasons, Gronk went 27-12 with Bob.
2016 SEASON
Drafted in 1st Round by Richard Burrier | Rank #10 When Bob and Gronk got together, the results were Charlie Sheen-ish…winning, baby! When Gronk and Burrier got together, it typically meant season ending injury. Back on the market, Gronkowski became the first tight end to get drafted in the first round in back-to-back seasons, but this year, it would prove to be a poor decision. The Patriots tight end was the walking wounded, missing two games to start the season with a hamstring injury. Later he would get a lung punctured, only to see his season end with a herniated disk surgery. He would play just seven games for Rich, leading him to just three victories. By the time Rich, who scored 840 points in a quarterfinals defeat to Jeff, Gronkowski was long gone.
2017 SEASON
Drafted in 2nd Round by Richard Burrier | Rank #2 Despite always seeming to be unable to finish a season with Rich, Burrier had no misgivings taking the homer tight end again, this time in the second round. This time around though, Gronkowski stay healthy, missing just one game in our regular season. He finished the season as a second-team All-Robio award, just 28 points behind Travis Kelce for the top spot. He ended up being a bright spot on a average Burrier team that needed a week thirteen win just to squeeze into the playoffs as the 8-seed. Unfortunately, Gronkowski was injured and unavailable for Rich’s playoff game and he lost to Bob by just 264 points. It was the third straight time in his career Gronk failed to finish the season while playing for Burrier, who would earn his third straight 8-seed and fourth straight quarterfinals exit.
2018 SEASON
Drafted in round two by Richard Burrier | Rank #11 Like a jilted lover that can’t get enough, who watch Gronk win his only championship with Bob, Burrier couldn’t say no to his favorite tight end and again, drafted Gronk in round two. Like so often in the past, injuries kept Gronkowski from playing a full season (he missed three) and even when he was playing, he wasn’t 100%. He finished as the league’s 11th best tight end and in games he started for Burrier, the team went just 4-6, as Rich missed the playoffs.
WHAT DID WE LEARN
Gronkowski was drafted or kept by just three teams in this league and only played games for two: Burrier and Bob
He won his only championship with Bob in 2014
After helping to lead Burrier to the 2011 title game, Gronkowski never played in another playoff game for Rich in his four follow up seasons.
With two first-team awards and one second-team award, Gronk is the only tight end to earn that award for Rich.
While Gronkowski piled up an impressive five All-Robio award, including four 1st-team awards, he’s still way behind the leaders. Tony Gonzalez has nine career All-Robio awards, including five 1st-teams. Antonio Gates also have five 1st-team awards and seven total.
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