A Healthy Gronkowski Means A Potent Attack For the Patriots Offense in 2015
 Rob Gronkowski is healthy to start 2015, he'll spearhead a potent Patriots tight end group this season for QB Tom Brady. (USA TODAY Images) |
Last year at this time the questions at tight end far outweighed the answers for the Patriots. Rob Gronkowski was still recovering from his knee injury and other than blocking tight end Michael Hoomanawanui, there weren’t many playmakers in OTAs and training camp.
Gronkowski came on slowly, being held out of team drills until the end of training camp and was slow to get back into the flow of the offense until the first quarter of the season was in the books. Other options at tight end consisted of Asa Watson, D.J. Williams, Steve Maneri, Brian Hartsock, and Justin Jones. What a difference a year makes.
Slow Start But Great Finish in ’14: Not surprisingly, because of his rustiness and the questions surrounding the offensive line the Patriots sputtered out of the gate and limped to a 2-2 September that showcased little offensive explosion and even more questions about QB Tom Brady.
Once he became the Gronkowski of old and the OL was sorted out starting in the Cincinnati game, the offense took off. Gronkowski showed that he is the most complete tight end in the NFL and produced 82 catches for 1124 yards and 12 touchdowns. In the playoffs Gronkowski caught 16 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns in the three playoff wins topped with a Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks.
This season, the Patriots are beginning the season with a healthy Gronk and a renewed focus on using the tight ends in the passing game. The team brought in Tim Wright at the end of 2014’s training camp with the Logan Mankins and although he caught only 26 passes, six were for touchdowns in the red zone. With a year in the system, Wright should have a much better grasp of the offense.
Chandler Another Big Option: One of the big (figuratively and literally), additions from free agency was tight end Scott Chandler. The 6’7, 255 Chandler has always been a thorn in the side of the Patriots and now like Wes Welker in 2007, he’ll join the Patriots after playing some of his best games against them. Chandler isn’t the athletic freak that Gronkowski is but provides a quality tight end that can attack the seams and provide another huge red zone target for Brady to utilize.
Chandler has caught 100 passes in the past two seasons from the likes of Kyle Orton, E.J. Manuel, Thadeus Lewis, and Jeff Tuel. With Brady at the helm, look for him to improve on his 5 touchdowns in the last two campaigns. He and Gronkowski will present matchup nightmares for defenses in the red zone. Both are huge targets that can use their size and ability to create opportunities for Brady to exploit.
But the team wasn’t finished there; the Patriots signed Fred Davis to a free agent contract. The former Redskin has battled injuries and substance abuse in recent years and was suspended for the entire 2014 season. He’s only played in 17 games the past three seasons and was a low-risk, high reward signing.
Davis’ best season came in 2012 when in 12 games he caught 59 passes for 706 yards and three touchdowns. He’s built closer to Wright at 6’3, 250 than Gronkowski and Chandler and if he can resurrect his career here, would be another nice option in the passing game.
The Patriots drafted Arkansas tight end A.J. Derby in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft to add another option for the offense to use. Derby a 6’5, 255 lb converted quarterback is an intriguing prospect. Having only one season at Arkansas at tight end is still raw in terms of route running and blocking skills.
Derby posted decent numbers in 2014, 22 catches for 303 yards and a touchdown. But his football I.Q. from playing quarterback definitely helps along with good athleticism. Derby ran a 4.72 in the 40 and posted a 6.99 time in the Three-Cone Drill. He may need a year on the practice squad to hone his skills so he may be more of a project at this point.
The tight end position looks vastly different in 2015 than it did just a year ago. With six quality options to pick from, the production especially with the 1-2 punch of Gronk and Chandler should be something to watch. With Wright and Davis fighting for third TE reps should make things quite interesting come training camp.
The versatile and varied group at tight end coupled with a wide receiving corps of Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell, Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson, Brian Tyms and Donald Gibson gives Brady and Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels all kinds of options especially in the red zone.
Mike Reiss of ESPN noted on Thursday that while the rest of the team worked on kickoff returns during OTAs, Gronk and Chandler were on the side with Brady, working on combination red-zone routes. Having a healthy Gronkowski makes a tremendous difference to start 2015. Adding in a big target like Chandler makes this version of the New England offense an even more difficult one to defend.
Is it September yet?
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcast on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and I from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news Wednesdays at 12 noon.
