“Gronk Is Going To Feast”
June 25th, 2020
Breaks down Bucs offense.
If this doesn’t get you fired up for Bucs football, then in Joe’s eyes you need another cup of coffee.
There are few football people Joe respects more than Louis Riddick of BSPN. So when he says something, Joe listens intently.
Riddick, in a recent appearance of “First Take,” was asked by former Rays sideline reporter Laura Rutledge (she was Laura McKeeman back then) about how fearful defensive coordinators should be of Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski.
To hear Riddick, a former pro player personnel director for the Eagles and Redskins who once played defensive back for Bill Belicheat, they should be downright frightened. Provided one thing checks out.
Gronk’s health.
If Gronk is healthy, or if he is “85-90 percent” of what he once was, to use Riddick’s analogy, Gronk will tear up defenses, Riddick said.
“The level of fear that defensive coordinators are going to feel is all going to be contingent upon and relative to what exactly does Rob look like from a physical perspective? We don’t really know,” Riddick said.
“We don’t know if that year off really has benefited him or not. If he is going to wind up looking much better than he did a couple of years ago or if he going to look like a guy that has kind of lost it and is really trending down. Now let’s just assume he is 85 to 90 percent of what he once was physically and he [feels] a lot better. From a matchup perspective, he is without a doubt going to benefit from having the other weapons on this football field.
“When the have the kind of guys they have on the perimeter, with [Chris] Godwin and [Mike] Evans, teams are going to be play two-high. They are not going to play single-high. They are going to back off and make sure they don’t get the ball thrown over the top of their heads. So Tom [Brady] is going to have to prove he can throw the ball deep.”
Riddick said when defenses play not to get beat deep, in a pocket 15-20 yards from the line of scrimmage between the numbers, Gronk is going to be like a hungry dog turned loose in a meat market.
“Gronk is going to feast,” Riddick said.
Riddick emphasized several times the key to all of this is Gronk’s relative health. Riddick added with Cam Brate and O.J. Howard, he sure would be tempted to run plays with 13 personnel (one back and three tight ends) and once the defense thought it was a run, spread out the tight ends to get 1-on-1 matchups. Gronk would then totally dominate like he’s got a cheat code.
“He’s going to kill people,” Riddick said of Gronk spread out wide in 13 personnel. “He just is.”
Of course, Joe hopes Bucco Bruce Arians sees this opportunity, too. Last year Arians had many chances to get the tight ends involved more and he didn’t. It’s not like Brate and Howard are two stiffs.
As Riddick drove home, this all depends on Gronk being close to what he was when healthy with the Belicheats.
June 25th, 2020 at 9:14 am
Louis Riddick is probably only one of the few media heads from ESPN that I can stomach cause he does make alot of valid thoughtful points.
If Gronk can stay healthy and atleast play at 50% capacity…..he’ll still dominate.
June 25th, 2020 at 9:17 am
The pictures I’ve seen of Gronk lately he don’t look like he’s declining. The year off, losing some weight, but not muscle, dude looks cut, and ready to roll. He just turned 31, not like he’s over the hill age wise. Got to agree with Riddick on this one, only I don’t think there’s a question Gronk’s still got it.
June 25th, 2020 at 9:32 am
The sad part is that we will not see that “gronk” !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Word on the street is that Buc fans will be lucky to even see a 50% gronk for two games!!!!!!!!!! But the “real” fans already knew this months ago!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is right!!!!!!!!!! Time for the much requested “Realist Repost”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
El Buco Realisto Says:
May 12th, 2020 at 1:02 pm
The “real” question, is how many games will it take the sheep to “realize” that the Bucs did not get a pro bowl TE but just a “reality” star??????? How many games to figure out he can not run anymore and does not have the heart to be an effective blocker anymore?????????
Some of the sheep will say next offseason, that ” he just needs to be in year two of ole stale biscuit’s offense”!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 25th, 2020 at 9:35 am
@ Hodad
He’s still small for NFL TE standards believe it or not…
He needs that extra 25 pounds on him to deal with big DLINE and blocking…..you can’t substitute being athletic for weight needed cause you’ll be pushed around right n left on the DLINE.
June 25th, 2020 at 9:54 am
If Defenses consistently play double high it is Brady who is going to feast in the middle of the field no matter who it is catching.
June 25th, 2020 at 10:04 am
If Arians doesn’t utilize the TEs he has markedly more, he is not as smart as he thinks he is. A good coach plays to his strengths. He would be foolish to do otherwise.
June 25th, 2020 at 10:13 am
To start the season Brady will feed Gronk until defenses learn how to stop it, or Gronk needs to heal.
By then Brady will be on the same page with the rest of the team. O.J. might replace Gronk, but as a decoy. Evans Godwin, Johnson, Dare, Miller, all will have a phase where they get a lot of action.
Eventually, when defenses work these small games within games, Brady will open up a gestalt of the offense and the defenses will look like Pop Warner defenses.
It will be so cool.
June 25th, 2020 at 10:39 am
Gronk will be fun the watch but he’s washed up man. Im not expecting anything from him except some good laughs and entertainment.
June 25th, 2020 at 12:11 pm
Washed up? Did you see his work with the ribbons????????????
June 25th, 2020 at 12:28 pm
It sounds like other defensive coordinators will be using Mike Smith’s Playbook.
June 25th, 2020 at 3:36 pm
We’ve all been made well aware of the fact that TB12 and Gronk have some mileage and people are wondering how much tread they have left.
Obviously Riddick gives us all optimism…I’ve been optimistic because it’s all lining up well. Two very talented other TE’s means we can spot Gronk exactly as we wish. I’ve seen plenty of “pass catching” TE’s play well…Tony Gonzalez immediately comes to mind.
Gronk will be as great of a pass threat as he’s ever been…where his game might tail off for physical reasons is blocking. He was known as a beast of a TE blocker but I suspect those days might be behind him. He’s far more important as a red zone target.
June 25th, 2020 at 5:14 pm
The original social distancing?
June 25th, 2020 at 5:20 pm
Joe Says:
June 25th, 2020 at 5:14 pm
Mike Smith’s Playbook.
The original social distancing
…………
🙂
June 25th, 2020 at 6:28 pm
I agree with Riddick. three wides and ae TE will open the intermediate middle for an effective TE…with a QB who can actually *read* defenses and throw receivers open.
June 25th, 2020 at 6:37 pm
Wwe training is way crazier then nfl…. Gronk is on the cbd too now. Gronk is going to be a mad man. Godwin is going to tearrrrrr up the 10-15 range
June 25th, 2020 at 10:25 pm
Been a while since I posted, I’m still thinking about just turning sports off for good because of all this stupid racism crap…
Anyhow, I think our offense will have a few issues early on in the year but once Brady gets chemistry with everyone and Wirfs gets coached up by about week 3-4 we will be a well-oiled machine and possibly at a record setting pace. I see ya putting up 35-40 a game towards the end of the season with possibly even a shut or 2 in there. Gronk will absolutely tear it up I have no doubt!
Ronald Jones is about to bust on the scene because Brady’s hurry-up running game is legendary and now we have Wirfs and Gronk who both are maulers in the Running game. Y’all do realize Jones is old Rams’ RB, Stephen Jackson’s size with even more agility right? We have 2 All Pro WRs who can block. Brady will have a couple games this year where he only throws for like 150 but we score 38 or 40.
I remember the San Francisco game from like 8-9 years ago where they beat us like 45-3 or something. It was the 4th quarter and every one knew SF was running but they just ran the ball like 14 consecutive times for 2 TDs and the looks on our players’ faces was unforgettable. Gonna be great to be on the other side of that as an organization. Haven’t had that since Cadillac. Man was he special. Jones isn’t quite Cadillac but he’s going to shock everyone this year. WAtch his film break down he has some elite moves. Winston was terrible at hurry-up and we flat out couldn’t run right last year. Do not be shocked if Jones breaks off 1300-1400 yards rushing. He’s fresh and doesn’t have much tread and he’s had a year to get use to his new size. Give the offense 3-4 weeks to really get going and look out.
Gronk and Tb12 bring an unquantifiable attitude and passion to the team like no one else. You’ll see how the crowd and team goes wild when Gronk slams the football or makes a big block for a TD to spring a big run. We won’t even notice this team, transformed into disciplined winners in 1 offseason. Go Bucs!