Rob Gronkowski’s Stats Demonstrate Worth
October 9th, 2021
Best Bucs receiver?
If you think the Bucs offense last week looked a little bit unpolished, there may have been a good reason.
Joe has already written about how Bucs quarterback Tom Brady’s numbers over the years take a dip when future Hall of Fame tight end, foot-rubbing, car-littering, film guru Rob Gronkowski, is not active for a game.
Now per NextGen stats, Joe thinks a case can be made that Gronk has been the best Bucs weapon in the passing game.
NextGen stats is not compiled by some Irish dude in a dorm room in Dublin. The numbers come straight from computer tracking devices embedded in players’ equipment. There is nothing subjective about the data.
As former Bucs great Derrick Brooks would say, “It is what it is.”
When it comes to catch percentage, Gronk ranks No. 10 in the NFL and is tops with the Bucs. This season he has caught 80 percent of targeted passes to him. The next-highest Bucs receiver would be Chris Godwin at 71 percent.
When it comes to separation, Gronk is the best on the Bucs as well. That’s no joke. Gronk averages a distance of 3.8 yards of separation on catches from his nearest defender. That’s substantial for a tight end and 13th-best in the NFL.
Furniture-tossing, bicycle-throwing Antonio Brown is right there with an average separation of 3.6 yards at No. 23.
What’s the No. 1 rule for a quarterback? Throw to the open man. Right up there would be to throw to a guy who can catch.
So if the Bucs offense looked a little out of sorts in New England, it’s understandable with Gronk being out of the lineup. (This also suggests to Joe that someone at One Buc Palace is doing a helluva job scheming Gronk open.)
October 9th, 2021 at 12:23 am
I miss Toms long bombs to Scotty. That dude can smoke his defender real good
October 9th, 2021 at 12:24 am
Brady’s security blanket.
October 9th, 2021 at 12:37 am
Wow, his separation is that good. That is truly impressive considering how most of last year he looked so slow footed and struggled to create space. Damn, can’t get him back fast enough.
October 9th, 2021 at 3:58 am
Pete would love to see how much separation Mike Evans gets according to NextGen? Hmmmm?
October 9th, 2021 at 5:13 am
Brady is currently on pace for 5700 yards and 44 TDs.
Brady also is on pace for 100 yards rushing an another 4 TDs on the ground.
Evans and Godwin are on pace for about 1200 yards and 8 TDs each.
Gronk, had he played 17 games, was on pace for 1042 yards, 23 TDs.
Brown, had he played 17 games, was on pace for 1139 yards, 4 TDs.
Fournette is on pace for around 650 yards rushing but 500 yards receiving.
Brown only missed the one game and can easily make up for it if he’s healthy the rest of the year. Gronk’s pace is going to be very difficult to keep up, but hopefully when he’s back, he’s fully healthy and can pick up where he left off.
Obviously these early season trends don’t generally end up meaning much, but it’s interesting to look at compared to where they’ll end up.
October 9th, 2021 at 7:05 am
Gronk is also an important person…..in addition to player for Brady……Brady needs him in the game…..and around to feel comfortable.
October 9th, 2021 at 7:19 am
Gronk needs to be kept out of this game and the next. A collapsed lung and cracked ribs do not “get to 100%” in a week.
October 9th, 2021 at 7:48 am
And bradys second go to is Godwin and bellichick knew that and tried to take him out of game
So no wonder the Bucs struggled
Mike evans has been one of my favorite players over the years
But brady does not trust him to make that play when needed
Honestly i dont think he will throw a 50/50 ball up for grabs when pressure comes brady way again to evans
You can see Brown is up there too
Mike seems option #4 unfortunately
We will see how teams try to stop our weapons this year.
If mike blows up cause more 1 on 1 , then only better for the team
Cause he is a freakish mismatch
October 9th, 2021 at 8:24 am
Don’t rush the heeling process. Brady won a SB against Atlanta without Gronk. He is for sure a great asset for any team for receiving and blocking. Other than maybe Kiddle the remaining receiving TE’s like Kelce, Waller etc are more one dimentional and don’t block like him not to mention his locker room presence. I was shocked he wasn’t selected as one of the top 100 players in the NFL. Patriots often rushed the recovery process which soured him on the game, rest him until almost 100%.
October 9th, 2021 at 8:28 am
One may make the same claim for Mahomes without Kelce, Carr without Waller, Goff without TJ, Jackson/Andrew etc. Anytime you lose a key receiver in your lineup won’t a QB’s #’s drop?
October 9th, 2021 at 8:35 am
I almost forgot and Jamais numbers would drop if the opposing teams didn’t have DB’s.
October 9th, 2021 at 8:44 am
Again, I could not agree with TBBF more. If Brady is Muhammad Ali, Gronk is Bundini Brown. Hopefully he’s back soon. In the meantime, Brate is going to have to step up.
October 9th, 2021 at 3:06 pm
Old man Brady has a healthy OJ Howard and Cam Brate to throw to tomorrow. Not to mention ME13 and CG14, etc. If he throws a hissy fit cos his boyfriend has broken ribs then he needs to retire.
October 9th, 2021 at 4:55 pm
Too bad OJ hasn’t been learning from him. Both present a mismatch to defenders, but Gronk knows how to exploit it, OJ isn’t there.
Maybe with some more snaps OJ will get closer, but I think Brate will take up most of the slack until Gronk gets back, hope he wears a rib protector from now on.
October 11th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
OJ has caught every ball thrown his way except 1.
Look for him to be fully healthy by thanksgiving, IMO.