From 2010 through 2012, the New England Patriots had the best tight end combination in football. Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez were each extraordinarily difficult to cover in their own distinct ways, and they gave defenses fits. Combined, they accounted for 362 catches, 4,619 receiving yards, and 56 touchdowns in those three seasons.
There's no way to transition to the next part of this story without saying, "Three years after Hernandez went to jail," so here goes: Three years after Hernandez went to jail, the Patriots finally found someone to fill his role. New England traded former Cowboys, Giants, and Bears tight end Martellus Bennett this offseason. (Note: The way New England acquired Bennett was previously misidentified as a free-agent contract. He signed the deal with the Bears and was then traded to New England.) The plan, Bennett says, is for him to be the Robin to Gronk's Batman.
"I'm super excited about it because it takes a little pressure off of me too," Bennett said, per CSN New England. "I really don't mind being Robin, you know? So right now it's just working every day and just trying to get better. He's an excellent player, and I'm gonna be able to get a lot of single coverages with him."
That's likely how it will work this time around considering Gronk is clearly the best tight end in football, but people might be surprised to know that it wasn't as clear of a split when he and Hernandez were playing together. In the three seasons they were teammates, Gronk and Hernandez each played 38 of a possible 48 games, sitting 10 apiece due to injury. In those 38 games, Gronk was targeted by Tom Brady 262 times (187 catches), while Hernandez was targeted 260 times (175 catches). The difference largely came in their yardage and touchdown totals -- Gronkowski outgained Hernandez 2,663 to 1,956 and crossed the pylons 38 times to Hernandez's 18.
In the three years since, Gronkowski's played 37 games. In that time, he raised his catch total to 193 and yardage total to 2,892, but he scored "only" 27 touchdowns. In those years, the No. 2 tight end for New England has averaged around 30 snaps a game (during the two years Gronk was healthy). That's a far cry from 2012, when Gronkowski averaged 66.5 snaps per game and Hernandez played 56.5 per game. That type of split seems more likely to happen with Bennett aboard, especially since the Pats are now asking him to do a lot of different things during OTAs.
"I don't really know what my role is in the offense just yet because there's a lot of things that they're finding out that I can do that people haven't let me do in the past which has been very, very exciting," Bennett said. "They let me . . . They're expanding, and they're just saying, 'Let's see if you can do it. Can he do this? Can he do that?' It's like finally getting the leashes off and letting me go."
It seems likely that Bennett will have a sizable role in the offense, especially in the red zone, where he can take pressure off Gronkowski as the only big target Brady has. The Pats' receivers are mostly on the shorter side, with Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola operating as his primary targets on the outside and in the slot, and bite-sized Dion Lewis operating out of the backfield. Adding Bennett to that mix should give Brady more to work with when the Pats get in close.
