Only time will tell if football has permanently changed – Grantland

Great read about the impact of Tight Ends on the game and their sustainability.

These organizations end up staying behind the curve by trying to keep up with what the Patriots were just doing. They’re focusing on the wrong thing. The Patriots went after their star tight ends because they were both undervalued assets on draft day; Gronkowski declared for the draft after missing his entire junior year with that back injury, and Hernandez had a reputation as a stoner. The Patriots then modified their offense to play to their young talents’ strengths, and by 2011, they were golden. The lesson to learn there, NFL organizations, is not to go out and acquire two tight ends! It’s to identify undervalued asset types, integrate them into your organization appropriately, and continue to stay ahead of the curve.4 If you want to run your team like the Patriots, you don’t steal what the Patriots are doing now. You steal what the Patriots are going to do next.