2017 Gronk: Mojo Gronk

ifmanis5

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I mean, this really is HOF level: https://vine.co/v/OOdQHle9uUg
 
 
Of all the offensive weapons with whom Brady has played, I think the HOF-level talent list might be as short as Moss and Gronk. 
Either way, when Gronk is healthy, he is fun to watch. Thanks, Big Guy!
 

williams_482

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Some fun visualizations here. Just select TE and enjoy the results.
 
Seemingly the only season close to what Gronkowski is doing now is what Gronkowski did in 2011. 
 

dcmissle

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I just wish this guy good health going forward to see what he can do.  He's ridiculous when healthy.
 

Koufax

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When he made that catch, two words came to mind:  Randy Moss.  But this is a much larger, nastier version, the Transformers version of Randy Moss.
 

Kliq

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Gronkowski is like Moss, except Moss had the heart of the Tin Man and Gronk plays like he just drank 20 Red Bulls. The only player on Gronk's level is Jimmy Graham, and Gronk is a much better blocker than Graham.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Kliq said:
Gronkowski is like Moss, except Moss had the heart of the Tin Man and Gronk plays like he just drank 20 Red Bulls. The only player on Gronk's level is Jimmy Graham, and Gronk is a much better blocker than Graham.
It's a blessing and a curse. Sometimes the extra 3 yards aren't worth the risk of getting injured, but it comes with the territory, I guess. I'd hate to tell Gronk to change the way he played to avoid injury, but I find myself yelling at the TV for him to just go down so he doesn't get hurt.
 

Silverdude2167

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I missed some of the game, can anyone explain this tweet from the Denver locker room? Why the bad blood towards Gronk? Because they can't stop him and Ward is upset that going low early in the game did not end his season again?
 
 
https://twitter.com/bypaulklee/status/529089003325493248
 

rodderick

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Kliq said:
Gronkowski is like Moss, except Moss had the heart of the Tin Man and Gronk plays like he just drank 20 Red Bulls. The only player on Gronk's level is Jimmy Graham, and Gronk is a much better blocker than Graham.
 
Jimmy Graham is soft as baby shit, there's no way he's on the same level as Gronk.
 

nazz45

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Silverdude2167 said:
I missed some of the game, can anyone explain this tweet from the Denver locker room? Why the bad blood towards Gronk? Because they can't stop him and Ward is upset that going low early in the game did not end his season again?
 
 
https://twitter.com/bypaulklee/status/529089003325493248
Late in the game, I believe after Gronkowski's final ctach, there was a shot of Gronkowski repeatedly delivering a shoulder to the helmet of Chris Harris. Think Marchand on Sedin in the Stanley Cup finals. It was light but sort of douchey.
 

Silverdude2167

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nazz45 said:
Late in the game, I believe after Gronkowski's final ctach, there was a shot of Gronkowski repeatedly delivering a shoulder to the helmet of Chris Harris. Think Marchand on Sedin in the Stanley Cup. It was light but sort of douchey.
Thanks.
 

jsinger121

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nazz45 said:
Late in the game, I believe after Gronkowski's final ctach, there was a shot of Gronkowski repeatedly delivering a shoulder to the helmet of Chris Harris. Think Marchand on Sedin in the Stanley Cup finals. It was light but sort of douchey.
 
No worse than TJ Ward going for the knee kill shot on him in my opinion.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Given that Ward targeted Gronk's knee on the first series of the game, I am happy that was the extent of Gronk's retaliation.  I honestly thought after the game got out of hand late that something bad might happen, but awesome for Gronk he was able to focus on the game and not let Ward's knee-shot derail him.
 

Ed Hillel

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Ralphwiggum said:
Given that Ward targeted Gronk's knee on the first series of the game, I am happy that was the extent of Gronk's retaliation.  I honestly thought after the game got out of hand late that something bad might happen, but awesome for Gronk he was able to focus on the game and not let Ward's knee-shot derail him.
 
I thought he was going to get up and kill him when it happened. Pretty amazing he had absolutely no reaction.
 

bakahump

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williams_482 said:
Some fun visualizations here. Just select TE and enjoy the results.
 
Seemingly the only season close to what Gronkowski is doing now is what Gronkowski did in 2011. 
Is it bad that when I saw the Win Probability Added Stat of ".950"  I thought  PER GAME.
 
And all I could think of watching his 1 Handed catch GIFs is that he is a Black Hole....nothing escapes his event horizon.  The Ball just seemed to be sucked into his chest.
 

Toe Nash

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Kliq said:
Gronkowski is like Moss, except Moss had the heart of the Tin Man and Gronk plays like he just drank 20 Red Bulls. The only player on Gronk's level is Jimmy Graham, and Gronk is a much better blocker than Graham.
According to the charts williams_482 posted above, Gronk has already produced as much value this year as Graham did all of last year.
 
I think Graham is really overrated. It's not just that he's not a good blocker, it's that he doesn't even block very often. Last year he lined up in the TE position 33%, in the slot 45% of the time, and out wide 22% of the time. 
 

kolbitr

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Ralphwiggum said:
Given that Ward targeted Gronk's knee on the first series of the game, I am happy that was the extent of Gronk's retaliation.  I honestly thought after the game got out of hand late that something bad might happen, but awesome for Gronk he was able to focus on the game and not let Ward's knee-shot derail him.
 
Agreed, to hell with Ward, and with Klee, who is a classic Broncos reporter: cozy, irrational, and intemperate. Ward was trying to get in Gronk's head, if not inside his patella; Klee has already blamed the cold, the wind, Kraft's stadium construction, the AFC east, everything but the team's buffet. He's ridiculous.
 

weeba

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williams_482 said:
Some fun visualizations here. Just select TE and enjoy the results.
 
Seemingly the only season close to what Gronkowski is doing now is what Gronkowski did in 2011. 
 
2011's graph is insane.
 

dcdrew10

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weeba said:
 
2011's graph is insane.
 
 The Patriots had 3 players in the top 10 on the All positions graph that year, Brady, Welker, and Gronk. And Brady, Brees, and Rogers were way ahead of everyone else. That was a pretty good statistical season for the Pats.
 

Devizier

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Silverdude2167 said:
I missed some of the game, can anyone explain this tweet from the Denver locker room? Why the bad blood towards Gronk? Because they can't stop him and Ward is upset that going low early in the game did not end his season again?
 
 
https://twitter.com/bypaulklee/status/529089003325493248
 
It's probably just T.J. douchebag Ward, who is definitely the whiniest Patriots opponent since the heydey of Kordell Stewart.
 

Number45forever

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Devizier said:
 
It's probably just T.J. douchebag Ward, who is definitely the whiniest Patriots opponent since the heydey of Kordell Stewart.
You forgot about any member of the Baltimore Ravens, ever.
 

DJnVa

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Also fun on those charts--this year's LB and DE charts.
 

ifmanis5

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FL4WL3SS said:
Would it be too much to ask for a full healthy season to see what this guy can do in the playoffs? It would be magical. Like unicorns and rainbow.
Seriously. Every hit, every time he's on the ground for more than two seconds, I hold by breath. Just get in the playoffs and have Gronk healthy. Please?
 

simplyeric

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Ed Hillel said:
 
I thought he was going to get up and kill him when it happened. Pretty amazing he had absolutely no reaction.
Didn't he jump up with a sarcastic kindof FU smile after that play? I'm not sure why I have that in me head.
 

Tony C

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Kliq said:
Gronkowski is like Moss, except Moss had the heart of the Tin Man and Gronk plays like he just drank 20 Red Bulls. The only player on Gronk's level is Jimmy Graham, and Gronk is a much better blocker than Graham.
 
Except Moss was basically healthy, which is a huge difference. Gronk is the difference maker, and we need these regular season wins....but just hoping he survives through the playoffs for a change.
 

RedOctober3829

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Brady went in-depth this morning on the training camp workouts that Gronk and Revis did together.  Great stuff.
 
Brady reflected on that work Wednesday when asked about the impact Gronkowski has had on the offense. What the Patriots were focusing on was Gronkowski's body position against excellent coverage players.
 
"We did a lot of work in training camp when Darrelle was covering him and Gronk was trying to do some rehabilitation and stuff like that; he just gets great body position and I think that's such a big part of it because he's such a big guy [6-6, 265]. It's hard to go through him. If he can get himself in the right position, and get the defender where he wants him in the right place on the route, the defender can't do anything about it," Brady said.

"They know that too, so I think they panic. When they panic, it's even more of an advantage to the offense. It's like sometimes when you get a bigger receiver on the perimeter and a smaller DB is matched up on him, the mindset of the DB might even change because they think, 'Oh my God, this guy is so much bigger and taller and stronger; what am I going to do?' They're already beat sometimes before the ball is snapped. So that's a good mindset for an offensive player. When he's making those plays and the defenders are defensive before the ball is even snapped -- not only are they are a physical disadvantage but they're at a mental disadvantage."

Brady compared it to his viewpoint as a quarterback and how he might not throw at a cornerback because of his top-notch skill-set (e.g. Revis).

So that's the type of impact Gronkowski is having, which is evident when the ball is thrown to him or others.

"He has great physical ability and I think he understands the game so much more now than he has in the past," Brady said. "He's just tough to stop. If they use extra guys to stop him, it really gives other guys opportunity -- maybe more opportunity than they would typically get. When Gronk does well, it really benefits all the other pass-catchers, too."
 
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4771713/gronkowskis-work-with-revis-pays-off
 

Spelunker

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The video that comes from (I think): 
 
edit: that's a view of the catch that I hadn't yet seen. It makes it look even more spectacular.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6_dclyKtgw
 

simplyeric

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Rob Gronkowski New England Patriots
During the Patriots' five-game winning streak, Gronkowski has seen at least nine targets in each contest and produced three 100-yard games and five touchdowns. His opponent each week does not matter.
 

H78

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I'll eat these words in February, but...

I'm buying this team this year. If Brady, Gronk, and the secondary stay healthy, this is finally the year. I admit that I was down on them in Week 4 and have never felt confident enough to say I think "the year" has finally arrived, but they have the three things you need to win in today's NFL: a top QB, a top passing game, and a top pass defense.

Also, something is different about this team since that KC game. Something I genuinely feel like we haven't seen since 2007; on defense, THEY are setting the tone.

Assuming good health, I don't see a team that can match up with them if they keep playing the way they have. Not in the AFC, not in the NFC. I mean, the NFL is a funny league come playoff time, but I would be pretty devastated if they stay healthy and don't bring home #4.
 

Byrdbrain

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I love that the ref has his back turned to them and he just hears them going by behind him.
And yes former teammate but also per Chris Price the guy that he broke his arm blocking on the extra point a couple years ago.
 
I think it was the yapping tonight and not the arm thing but who knows.
 

Ralphwiggum

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You have to wonder what would cause a defender to talk trash to Gronk.  If it were me I think I would probably try not to anger the athletic freak I am being asked to cover. But maybe that's just me.
 

SidelineCameras

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Ralphwiggum said:
You have to wonder what would cause a defender to talk trash to Gronk.  If it were me I think I would probably try not to anger the athletic freak I am being asked to cover. But maybe that's just me.
Seriously. It's either bravado or extreme stupidity.

On the CSN post game show, Troy Brown was down on Sergio, mentioning it was the equivalent of Troy trash talking Ronnie Lott when he first came into the league.