New England Patriots' tight end combo ranked best in NFL

In NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks' recent article he ranked the top combos at each position group. At the top of the list at the tight end position sat the New England Patriots combo of Hunter Henry and free agent acquisition Mike Gesicki. Coaches around the league, fans, and media have all applauded the Gesicki pick-up this offseason.

Brooks went on to write how the pair could be used throughout the season under new offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien. The long-time NFL analyst says that Henry will most likely be used as "a chain mover" and Gesicki will likely be used as "a red zone weapon and hybrid playmaker". Listed behind the Patriots tight end combo was the Baltimore Ravens combo of Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, as well as Kyle Pitts and former Patriot Jonnu Smith for the Atlanta Falcons.

In the former scout's ranking list of each position, two other AFC rival combos were atop their respective positions. At wide receiver, the speedster combo of Miami Dolphins Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were ranked as the best combo in the league by Brooks. On the other side of the ball, New York Jets cornerback duo of NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner and five year pro DJ Reed were ranked the best cornerback combo.

Let's go back to Brooks' rankings of having the Patriots tandem as the best in the league. While I can understand the naysayers just saying I will take Kansas City Chiefs All pro tight end Travis Kelce and anyone over these two (and I would agree with them) Brooks tried to emphasize combination in this article.

So if we were to play along and emphasize duos or combinations the two he named as second and third are both viable candidates to be better than the Patriots duo. Also, one Brooks didn't mention was AFC East rival Buffalo Bills combination of Dawson Knox and first-round pick of this year's draft Dalton Kincaid. While Kincaid has yet to play a single snap this season throughout the draft process NFL Draft experts, including Brooks himself, had high praise for the rookie tight end out of Utah.

It will be interesting to see how O'Brien employs this unique pairing throughout the season. What kind of numbers will this year's pair put up? The Patriots haven't had a tight-end pair put up more than 1,000 yards since 2017 when Rob Gronkowski surpassed 1,000 yards on his own. With the season right around the corner where do you rank the Patriots' tight end combination?