Gronk
2nd Team Getting Their First Start
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2013
- Messages
- 1,719
- Reaction score
- 2,054
If you compare an equal amount of seasons (let's say, Gonzalez's first 7 seasons) the only statistical advantage Gonzo has on Gronk is number of catches, and additionally we'll note that Gonzalez was targeted around 130 times more than Gronk has been
TG - first 7 seasons
rec 468 / yds 5647 / td 47
Gronk - to present
rec 402 / yds 6039 / td 69
I didn't do it, but I'd guess that this would be true even if you cherry-picked Gonzalez's best 7 seasons. The only counter-argument is that Rob has Tom, while Gonzo toiled with a parade of lesser QBs for basically his entire career. But no one holds it against Jerry Rice that he had HOF and All-Pro (Rich Gannon in '01/'02) QB's throwing to him until he was 41.
And that's without normalizing games played, which means we're comparing 111 games for Gonzo to 86 games for Gronk (with 8 more to play this year too). I think that's fair, because being able to play matters as does longevity, but there is no doubt Gronk is a more dominant force at the position. He's the single most dominant and important non-QB offensive player in the league. Whether you agree or not - has anyone ever even been able to legitimately make that claim about a TE before?
TG - first 7 seasons
rec 468 / yds 5647 / td 47
Gronk - to present
rec 402 / yds 6039 / td 69
I didn't do it, but I'd guess that this would be true even if you cherry-picked Gonzalez's best 7 seasons. The only counter-argument is that Rob has Tom, while Gonzo toiled with a parade of lesser QBs for basically his entire career. But no one holds it against Jerry Rice that he had HOF and All-Pro (Rich Gannon in '01/'02) QB's throwing to him until he was 41.
And that's without normalizing games played, which means we're comparing 111 games for Gonzo to 86 games for Gronk (with 8 more to play this year too). I think that's fair, because being able to play matters as does longevity, but there is no doubt Gronk is a more dominant force at the position. He's the single most dominant and important non-QB offensive player in the league. Whether you agree or not - has anyone ever even been able to legitimately make that claim about a TE before?