Rob Gronkowski

With Rob Gronkowski ending the 2013 season on IR once again, most prognosticators figured the Pats would make a move on a tight end, either in free agency, the draft, or both this offseason.

The Pats re-signed Michael Hoomanawanui, but didn’t spend a single draft pick at the position, when most mocks gave them one of Jace Amaro, Troy Niklas, CJ Fiedorowicz or Austin Seferian Jenkins.

The Pats did kick the tires on a few of the injured free agent tight ends but never made a move. What can we expect to see from a lighter-than-expected tight end group this season?

Here’s our preview of a sparse tight end group.

First, the good news. Rob Gronkowski seems on track to be ready to go week one. If Gronk can stay healthy this year (granted a big if given his size and the hits/tackles he takes) the Pats’ need for another impact tight end is significantly less.

You can throw Michael Hoomanawanui out there for your two-tight set, or even James Develin who saw time at tight end in OTAs and you’ll be fine. Or maybe DJ Williams lives up to the potential he demonstrated when he won the 2010 John Mackey Award as the best tight end in college football.

Will it be the Gronk/Hernando show of 2011? No, but that was rare and not the kind of offense you can easily manufacture.

But if Dustin Keller is healthy, he’d make a lot of sense to shore up the F-receiver spot and with Gronk they’d be a potent pairing.

However, there is a lot of pressure on Gronk this year, especially given that he’s coming off an ACL surgery and usually it takes a full season to get back to normal. 

If Gronk once again ends the year on IR, it might make sense for the Pats to not pick up his contract option, as hard as that is to believe. Would anyone object to putting that money toward Darrelle Revis?

But if Gronk does go down again this year, the Pats are right back where they ended last season, without a true threat or blocking force at tight end. Not even Keller would fully fix that problem.

Perhaps one of the two undrafted rookies – Asa Watson or Justin Jones could emerge. Watson is more of an F-tight end who is coming off heart surgery (never a great thing), while Jones has monstrous size at 6’8", 274 pounds, but looked extremely slow in OTAs. 

It’s hard to think either will have an impact as rookies, especially after we were burned so badly by Zach Sudfeld last preseason.

Projection:

No secret here, it’s all about Gronk. If he starts week one and is standing on the field as the final gun sounds for the Pats last playoff game, there’s a very good chance the Pats will be playing in the Super Bowl. If Gronk sustains another major injury, or one of the previous major injuries to his back, arm or knee return, the Pats offense will struggle to replace him and take a big step backwards.

This is a feast-or-famine way to enter a season. There’s a ton on the line for both the player and the team. It will be one of, if not the biggest, storyline to monitor this season.

But with three roster spots open as of this posting, the Pats might still have another move or two to make at the position.

Previously:

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Offensive Line