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New England Patriots: Rob Gronkowski is the NFL’s MVP

By Sayre Bedinger

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It’s obvious that New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski is an unstoppable freak of nature. Whether or not you hate the New England Patriots (and there are plenty of reasons to do so) you can’t deny the greatness of ‘Gronk’ who is probably the most physically gifted mismatch in the NFL right now, perhaps ever.

Gronkowski is nearly averaging a touchdown per game played in his NFL career. He’s proven he’s not just an elite wide receiver in a tight ends body, either. He’s also a phenomenal blocker and one of the smartest players in the league.

When you put it all together, you get what no NFL team has really figured out how to defend, and what every NFL team is trying to replicate for themselves. You get the most dominant player in the NFL today.

Gronkowski, who has had injury problems in the past, leads all Patriots skill players in snaps played. If you watch any football at all, you know by now that Gronk can be used in-line, out wide, in the slot, and pretty much anywhere the Patriots want. Josh McDaniels, though a massive failure as a head coach in Denver, is one of the most creative offensive minds in the league and does a great job of moving Gronkowski around to get him in optimal position for success.

This is Gronk in a goal-line set against Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills. This is a look that Rex has seen for years, and as smart as he is, it’s a great idea to have his best cornerback Stephon Gilmore covering the Patriots’ star tight end. However, Gilmore is clearly not expecting the following from Gronkowski here…

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a 270 pound tight end making a star cornerback look silly. Gronkowski’s size is already unfair. His speed and quickness on top of that?

It’s like a high school kid that goes back to play flag football in the junior league.

Here’s Gronk against zone coverage lined up out wide. He shows off a bit of his catch radius here as well as soft hands to be able to make a play that most tight ends probably can’t against a quicker cornerback.

Here’s some more red zone work from Gronk, this one from his week 1, 3 touchdown performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is a little bit of a delayed route but look at the concentration at the end of this catch and how easy he makes this look…

Here’s New England getting Gronk the ball on the perimeter again, working him against smaller defensive backs that really don’t stand a chance of tackling him one-on-one. As good as Gronkowski is after the catch, it wouldn’t matter anyway.

Are you starting to get the point here? Very few NFL teams have the luxury of doing whatever they want with a player offensively or defensively and completely destroying a game plan. We all saw what Rex Ryan’s defense did to the Colts in week 1, and how the Patriots absolutely destroyed it in wee 2. I know, I know — it’s still early in the season, but Gronkowski is my early favorite for the NFL’s most valuable player.

Of course, his own teammate Tom Brady might have something to say about that, but there’s no denying the Patriots are a much more dynamic offense with Gronk on the field, and he looks at the peak of his game to start off this season. He’s the most dominant mismatch I’ve seen in the league, and a player that the Patriots can use literally anywhere on the field offensively.

The sky is obviously not even the limit for what this guy can do on the field. He’s just an absolute treat to watch.

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