Gronk’s Impact
June 23rd, 2020
Is beer a reason Gronk is with the Bucs? One analyst seems to think it may be.
With normal preseason activities at One Buc Palace wiped out and who knows what will really happen with training camp and preseason, how the Bucs plan to use their newest tight end toy, Rob Gronkowski, is anyone’s guess.
One guy who thinks Gronk will have a major bounceback season is Kyle Brandt of NFL Network, the “Good Morning Football” co-host.
The pride of Princeton believes the shackles of Bill Belicheat have been torn off of Gronk’s body and, more importantly, his mind, and Gronk will rise like a phoenix in his first year back in the NFL after a one-year retirement and will drive defenses and defensive coordinators nuts.
“I think he was done [in New England],” Brandt said of Gronk’s lost passion for the game. “I think that there are some birds who shouldn’t be caged. Think about it guys, he gets to play for Bruce Arians and Jason Licht. Two great beer-drinking, happy guys.
“You look at the schedule for the Bucs, not only is he in Florida now. There is no late-season cold games. It is a late bye. He goes to Vegas [and] there’s a damn pirate ship in his own stadium.
“I think we are going to see the childlike, joyful Rob Gronkowski that we haven’t seen in a few years when it felt like he was a little bit down in the dumps. I expect big things, especially between the ears.”
Joe isn’t sure what Brandt meant by his last comment, unless Brandt was suggesting Gronk had mentally checked out of the game in his last season in New England. Heck, it wasn’t like his numbers were that awful with the Belicheats in 2018.
An interesting angle on how the Bucs may use Gronk came from former Penn State quarterback and Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson.
He doesn’t see Gronk being a major focal point in the offense, mainly because the Bucs don’t need him to be. Instead, Robinson pointed out, he thinks Gronk’s major impact will come in the red zone.
You can see the full segment on Gronk in the NFL Network video below.
“I think we are going to see the child-like, joyful @RobGronkowski that we haven’t seen in a few years.”
What are the expectations for Gronk in 2020? 👇
📺: @gmfb pic.twitter.com/fc5iunjah,4
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) June 22, 2020
June 23rd, 2020 at 6:16 am
Hmm…Sounds like Big Storm needs to hook up with Gronk for a signature brewski. Gronkade and The Spike being names that come to mind.
June 23rd, 2020 at 7:08 am
I understand & appreciate all of the attention paid to our new offensive players & the offense but I believe it will be our defense that surprises & gets us to the playoffs.
We have all starters in tact along with all coaches with younger players gaining much needed experience.
We are only missing some depth with the front 7…..
One more year’s experience with White, Davis, Dean, SMB, Edwards & Whitehead will do wonders.
June 23rd, 2020 at 8:33 am
Gronk will Dominate! Remind everyone who is the goat TE
June 23rd, 2020 at 8:37 am
Redzone woes for opposing teams. How you going to cover Gronk, Evans, Godwin, and Brate, not to mention a RB slipping out of the backfield? Good luck!
June 23rd, 2020 at 9:10 am
I expect Gronk to be the reason Howard becomes what he should be. Howard gets to watch a possible HOFer go about his business. If Howard cannot figure it out this season, it’s likely he’s not who we thought he was. in any case, there are going to be some ugly mismatches in the red zone to exploit. Actually should be ugly mismatches on every part of the field. If Ronald Jones or Vaughn can step up in the pass game…it’s Armageddon Time!
June 23rd, 2020 at 9:48 am
Great comments, All.
Can’t wait to see what should be one of if not the most dominant offense the NFL has ever seen. Really? In Tampa?
Please Please Please, LET US PLAY!
June 23rd, 2020 at 10:28 am
I may not agree with EVERY move Jason Licht makes, but I would absolutely love to have a Beer with him!
June 23rd, 2020 at 10:40 am
Chris
Nah, he’s world class, I’d never be able to keep up.
June 23rd, 2020 at 10:41 am
Only if he’s buying!
June 23rd, 2020 at 10:52 am
Michael Robinson is 100% correct IMO
June 23rd, 2020 at 12:28 pm
Personally, Gronk is a red flag for me. Maybe it’s leftover anger at Chris Baker humping trees, but the goofing around bugs me.
And as to that belt he is holding above, he was horrible at wrestling. The 24/7 title is a joke title that even a pregnant woman won. It’s used for comic relief. And Gronk just isn’t funny to me.
June 23rd, 2020 at 1:04 pm
Bonzai
If you’re saying Gronk is terrible at wrestling I suppose you mean he’s not a good actor and his “schtick” wore thin?
TBBF I agree with you totally about our defense but since this thread is about Gronk I’ll play along.
I believe he will be effective far beyond his stats. As a story a couple of days ago went Gronk will be a situational player. Yeah the red zone for sure. But why not save his aging body when we have two other outstanding TE’s.
Gronk will also be effective in drawing attention…imagine being a DC..who ya gonna double or put your best guy on to cover…ME…CG…Gronk…that leaves Brate and OJ and whichever back(s) end up receiving out of the backfield…and of course if Scotty or Johnson develop….
It’s obvious why Gronk and the targets are getting all this run…they’ve earned it…in the category of those who are close…TBBF mentioned our D…I’m also excited to see what our OL plays like this year. They may just blow up.
June 23rd, 2020 at 4:34 pm
Say there Buc Bonzai… You’d goof around to if you had just bilked and milked 10 million form a team to play like 8 or 10 games. The guy has not completed a season since 2011. I’d party like crazy too.