It's one thing to believe in data.
But in the sports world—especially the NFL—sometimes you have to ignore the nitty-gritty statistics and let your eyes judge for themselves.
Unfortunately for Rob Gronkowski, the folks at Pro Football Focus live and die by their advanced analytics to the point that he apparently isn't even one of the top two tight ends of the last 20 years.
All-PFF team doesn't show respect for former Patriots star
The folks at PFF ranked the best players over the last 20 years and unveiled their full All-PFF Team on June 29. To no surprise, several former New England Patriots stars made the cut, with Tom Brady and Darrelle Revis earning first-team honors.
Noticeably absent from the first-team offense?
Brady's most trusted target.
Instead, PFF chose Travis Kelce and George Kittle, leaving Gronkowski and 2019 Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez as the second-team tight ends.
Now, I'm not going to pretend that putting Kelce ahead of Gronk is some egregious mistake. In fact, you can make a reasonable argument that the longtime Kansas City Chiefs star has put together a more impressive career based on his counting stats and longevity.
After all, while Gronkowski was a dominant force during his prime with the Patriots, injuries forced him to miss considerable time, and he's settled into his post-playing career as Kelce continues to catch passes from Patrick Mahomes.
From a pure numbers standpoint, Kelce has the obvious edge over his contemporary:
Regular Season Games Played | Catches | Receiving Yards | Receiving Touchdowns | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Travis Kelce | 192 | 1,080 | 13,002 | 82 |
Rob Gronkowski | 143 | 621 | 9,286 | 92 |
When you also factor in that Kelce is a three-time Super Bowl champion (Gronkowski still has the lead with one more ring), it's fair to say the longtime Chief deserves the No. 1 spot on any all-time tight end rankings list.
Or, at the very least, you can make a legitimate argument that he warrants that position despite being an inferior blocker.
George Kittle over Rob Gronkowski is a big miss
Even diehard members of Patriot Nation would admit that Kelce's prolific production, individual accolades (he's a four-time first-team All-Pro and an 11-time Pro Bowler), and championship pedigree make him an all-time great and no-doubt All-PFF first-teamer.
But choosing George Kittle over Gronk for the second tight end slot shows so little respect for what truly matters. And I'm sorry, citing "Kittle’s 2.27 yards per route run are the most for the 33 tight ends with at least 3,000 routes" is exactly the type of data-driven rationale that's changed the way we view sports today. After all, do NFL fans really care about a metric like yards per route run?
Or do they care more about how a player performed in the biggest moments?
If you want to knock Gronk down a peg for his durability issues, you have to do the same with Kittle. San Francisco 49ers fans know all too well what life is like without their superstar tight end. Since entering the league as a fifth-round pick in 2017, Kittle has missed 29 regular-season games, posting a career stat line of 595/8,008/52 in 124 games.
Those numbers put him within striking range of Gronkowski—and about halfway toward matching Gonzalez's ridiculous 1,325/15,127/111 line. To Kittle's credit (and PFF's for spotlighting it), he's an excellent blocker, making him a more apples-to-apples comparison than Kelce, who's essentially been a big slot receiver.
However, going with Kittle over Gronk is a case of getting too cute with the ranking rationale for the sake of the grading system. Instead of yards per route run or a run-blocking grade, why not shine the light on postseason production?
That would make it abundantly clear who should be on the first team with Kelce.
Playoff Games | Catches | Receiving Yards | Touchdowns | Super Bowl appearances | Super Bowl wins | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rob Gronkowski | 22 | 98 | 1,389 | 15 | 5 | 3 |
George Kittle | 13 | 34 | 461 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Subjectively speaking, ask 100 NFL fans who the more impactful star of the last 20 years is, and I'd be willing to bet at least 80% would go Gronk over Kittle. Do the same with coaches, former players, and even casual football fans, and I'd still feel confident you'd hear Gronk's name mentioned far more often.
Look, I'm all for finding interesting ways to measure success and get more insight into what's happening on the field, but PFF grades and proprietary stats are only part of the equation.
Because by any calculation, Rob Gronkowski should be a 100% lock for a first-team spot on whatever all-time team we're picking.
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