Gronk No. 10
July 7th, 2020
Can a future Hall of Famer be No. 10 at his position?
A gambler who takes deep statistical dives into the NFL believes so.
Warren Sharp is about to release his annual football preview and it is some really fun stuff. Sharp, who used to be a regular fixture with the late dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, can often be seen on FS1.
Sharp makes a living in gambling and his yearly football guides are geared toward getting an edge at football wagering. It is very stat-heavy but unlike the stat geeks, Sharp’s info is for the football proletariat, not the self-anointed elitists.
If you follow Sharp on Twitter, he offers peeks into his football preview periodically. Last week he Twittered out the ranking of his No. 10 tight end (Sharp combines tight ends with fullbacks — that is another story for another time). Sharp’s No. 10 tight end happens to be Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski.
“We’re giving Gronk a relative pass here in that he hasn’t played since Super Bowl LIII, he hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2011, he hasn’t enjoyed a 1,000-yard season since since 2017 and he will be working in a new offense without the benefit of minicamps and training camps on a standard schedule. But he’s also the guy the Patriots needed to win that final Super Bowl on the crucial game-winning drive, and once he gets his bearings in Bruce Arians’ offense, he should be able to bring at least some of the old Gronk to the field.”
You may think Gronk, a future Hall of Famer, is a bit low at No. 10. But Joe thinks Sharp may be right on. His points are reasonable but notice Sharp seems to think Gronk will improve as the season progresses. So long as he stays healthy.
Joe has a hunch Gronk will be a major target in the red zone. Just watch: With Brady being rather unfamiliar with the rest of his Bucs targets, he’ll instantly have a sixth sense where Gronk will be and Brady will expose defenses in the red zone by hitting Gronk.
July 7th, 2020 at 9:48 am
Gronk’s salary ranks tied for 4th (NFL says $9mil)…..but isn’t much higher than #10 ranked salaries at 7.3 million…..
If it make Brady more comfortable, perhaps the extra money is worth it.
July 7th, 2020 at 9:55 am
I don’t think Gronk should even be on this list considering he’s been out of the NFL for almost two years.
No one really knows if he’ll even contribute like he did before he left the game??????????
July 7th, 2020 at 10:07 am
Not only do I not think Gronk should be on this list, I don’t think the list should even exist at this point. Ranking players for a season that hasn’t started is stupid.
July 7th, 2020 at 10:12 am
@ Buccaneer Bonzai
Agreed
I also HATE all “NFL POWER RANKINGS” lists too.
……but people love metrics and they love something to talk about by the water cooler/break room.
July 7th, 2020 at 10:45 am
Well I know that TB12 hasn’t been holding practices in the last week because he is up here in Montana.
My buddy is the food and beverage Manager for the Yellowstone Club and he said he has seen Tom playing golf three times this week. Once with Justin Timberlake.
Hit ’em straight Tom but don’t throw out your back!!!
July 7th, 2020 at 10:46 am
Wow……wonder what ‘key’ word tripped your filters on that one Joe?
July 7th, 2020 at 10:48 am
This must mean Bucs have three TEs in the top 10!
July 7th, 2020 at 11:21 am
By the third week of the season he will be close to number 1.
The lack of camp time this year will make thee Gronk/Brady symbiosis the go to play for a while.
By week four Brady will have moved on and Gronk can rest for a while.
It might make it worth the money if Gronk helps make the team 3-0.
July 7th, 2020 at 11:23 am
SB…..have you watched Yellowstone?…..based on big Montana rancher.
July 7th, 2020 at 11:37 am
Gronk will be what he is but he will not be Gronk of years gone by…all will see when he can’t separate from defenders, when he shys away from contact instead of running someone over! ….Gronk got paid but didn’t earn or deserve it!!
July 7th, 2020 at 12:55 pm
Yes TBBF!!! I am completely addicted!
All a true story too. Is why Bozeman is growing so fast now
July 7th, 2020 at 12:56 pm
Where are the other two TEs?
July 7th, 2020 at 3:04 pm
Lot’s of good tight ends in the league these days. For a TE that is on backside of his career, that should be fine. Get the ball to OJ and Brate early in games and Gronk when it’s on the line.
July 7th, 2020 at 4:19 pm
Nobody has better chemistry with Brady then Gronk. I think you’ll see him used fairly frequently, particularly in clutch moments within a drive. There’s not many defenses Brady hasn’t seen and those two will no each other’s preferences, I could see Gronk stacking it up early in the stat department while the others get acclimated to Brady.
July 7th, 2020 at 10:37 pm
Bonzai & Anthem – did you read the part in the article that his lists are geared towards short term investments?
If you n can find a guy who will take a bet after the season (or event/game) is over, let me know, cuz I’ll load up! Hah!
Go Gronk! Go Bucs!
In BA I Trust!