Rob Gronkowski

Great stuff in here, I highly recommend you check out the rest of this four-part interview. Cosell has been studying all-22 game tape for a while now and knows his stuff as well as anyone. Here’s his take on Gronk and Hernando:

Waldman: Tell me what you observe with the Patriots offense and its use of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Do you feel they will compete for opportunities or do you think they complement each other? Or maybe a better way to ask this question is how do you see each player best used to attack opposing defenses?

Cosell: I think  Gronkowski is an all-around tight end who can do everything. I think he’s a better Jason Witten because he’s a little more athletic. I’m a big fan of him based on what I’ve seen and I saw a lot of him last year.  I think he’s better on the line of scrimmage.

Hernandez is a “Joker,” that’s a term I use for a guy that lines up all over the formation. He’s more of a wide receiver in the way he moves. My guess is that you’ll rarely see him lined up on the line of scrimmage in a traditional tight end formation.

I really liked Hernandez coming out and I was surprised that he was drafted so late given the NFL the way it is now with the way that he can line up all over the formation and create mismatches for himself and others. And he’s a young kid so there’s room to grow.

I don’t know if they will compete for balls. I think the Patriots have a very multidimensional, diverse offense where they use a lot of people in a lot of different ways. But I think they are different players.

Waldman: The way I see Hernandez in today’s environment is the fact that you can put him wide, in the slot, occasionally on the line of scrimmage, on the wing, or as an H-Back that he could see a lot of balls this year.

Cosell: Yeah, but again due to the nature of the offense I don’t know if anybody is going to catch – with the possible exception of Welker – 90 balls. But I could be wrong, you never know with the Patriots.