Peter King: Look For Very Part-Time Gronk
August 29th, 2020
Longtime NFL super insider Peter King is known for pontificating and bloviating at times to his huge NBC audience, but Joe can’t ignore the guy since he has talked to all the Buccaneers power players this summer and is well versed in everything Tom Brady.
King was at Bucs training camp for two days early this month, and on Tuesday he joined Pro Football Talk with Mike Florio and Chris Simms and was hit with various follow up questions on the Bucs.
One query was about Rob Gronkowski’s role and King said he is confident that O.J. Howard is the tight end the Bucs want to take most of the snaps, followed by Cameron Brate, followed by Rob Gronkowski.
In fact, King speculated that Gronkowski would finish the regular season with only “300 to 400 snaps,” an effort to save him for the playoffs while keeping him for full-time red zone work all season.
Joe had to rewind the audio. That is not a lot of snaps at all. That’s significantly less than half of what Gronk is used to.
Joe gets the concept of saving one of the best playoff performers in history for the playoffs, but man, this team needs early wins. Keeping a guy like Gronk that buried might backfire.
Still, there is no correct answer. O.J. Howard has never played a full season a Cameron Brate has had injuries the past two years. So maybe saving Gronk is a very wise move.
August 29th, 2020 at 12:02 am
Be nice. Be kind,
August 29th, 2020 at 12:31 am
SB /I know you don’t condon giving 10mill to play 3rd string…why don’t we just make him a game day bench warmer !!!
August 29th, 2020 at 1:13 am
He looks to be in great shape…but he don’t look no 265lbs!!
August 29th, 2020 at 1:17 am
Average offensive plays per game: roughly 75
75 X 16= 1,200
300 snaps would be 25% of plays
400 snaps would be 33.3% of plays
I highly doubt Gronk plays this few of snaps, unless he’s injured.
August 29th, 2020 at 2:38 am
It depends on what happens with OJ. If he plays above where he did last year then they can afford to hold Gronk back. Either way, Ariana knows how to manage a season. If OJ falters then BA will spend agronomy early in hopes that OJ will get better. It all depends on how it plays out. Don’t forget Brate either. He may surprise everyone.
August 29th, 2020 at 2:39 am
Jesus….. IPhone 11 spell check
August 29th, 2020 at 3:48 am
a·gron·o·my
/əˈɡränəmē/
Learn to pronounce
noun
noun: agronomy
the science of soil management and crop production.
I guess it kinda fits LOL
August 29th, 2020 at 5:22 am
And King “knows” this how, exactly?
Gronk is the best TE on the roster. Yes, he will most likely share time but it will be far less than King seems to think.
August 29th, 2020 at 5:41 am
I, Jaymiss opines that this is not a big deal. Gronk will be used as needed to help secure the win….TB12 and the HC wouldn’t let a winnable game slip away just so Gronk could rest.
August 29th, 2020 at 5:50 am
354 hours and 10 minutes to go, till the 13th of september
August 29th, 2020 at 5:53 am
Both Gronk and Brate have had injuries. I wonder if the hip injury that Brate
had will hamper his ability to get downfield on seam routes. Last year kind of exposed OJ ‘s weakness over the middle where he didn’t seem comfortable. But he may be the healthiest tight end of the three. I would use him on the outside
more like Vernon Davis in his time with San Francisco. His speed is one of his best assets.
August 29th, 2020 at 6:01 am
Wow, no pre-name adjectives? Strangely feels like when the Hooter girls were cut from Morning Cup of Joe. LOL
August 29th, 2020 at 6:55 am
The secret weapon! It’s a good strategy.
August 29th, 2020 at 7:25 am
Gronk will be out there more than 33% of the plays. Just threat of Gronk on the field is huge. Defensive Cordinators have to account for Gronk. He is a 1st down machine, and a RedZone nightmare that can also block well too.The Bucs need him on the field for more than 33% of the plays. It just makes sense. Gronk gets at least 1 TD in the Saints game. GO BUCS!!!!!!
August 29th, 2020 at 7:34 am
He will likely lose some snaps because we have 3 really good TEs…..but probably not that many…..we need his blocking. And he’ll probably not be in much when we have 3 WR sets…..
August 29th, 2020 at 7:37 am
At 10Mil this season and no contract extension for next season, would the Bucs really use him for only 300 – 400 snaps? I doubt it. He’ll be relied upon in the two TE set 12 formations. Sometime with Brett and sometimes with OJ. I imagine the Bucs will run the 2 TE set 25 -30 percent of the time this year.
August 29th, 2020 at 7:50 am
I don’t care if its only 100 snaps as long as we are in a position to win the Super Bowl!
August 29th, 2020 at 7:56 am
I don’t think we paid 10 million for him to be used so little.
August 29th, 2020 at 8:36 am
Wait until a couple of games go by and then “realize” that gronk heart is no longer in it!!!!!!!!!! It will be very apparent while half azzing blocking and ducking hits!!!!!!!!!!! History will prove that this was a bad trade!!!!!!!!!!! But the sheep got to see a well known name that was way past his prime, so they think it is a great move!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 29th, 2020 at 10:01 am
Gronk will be in there for most of run plays and maybe 1/2 pass plays, so 60% of all offensive plays sounds right
Brady didn’t advise team to acquire Gronk and Bucs didn’t trade for a player with a big contract with HOF talent to play 1/3 of plays.
August 29th, 2020 at 10:31 am
There is no way we paid Gronk to play 33 percent of the snaps and be a highly paid decoy.
August 29th, 2020 at 12:37 pm
No sh!t. I could’ve told you that from day one. The media can’t get through a sentence about the Bucs without mentioning Tom and Gronk. He’s purely red zone dinomite and a professor to the similar type of TE in OJ.
August 29th, 2020 at 1:00 pm
The Bucs schedule is not a cakewalk to where they have the luxury of saving (25% to 33.3%) a good player for the playoffs, IMHO. My guess would be 55% to 60%.
August 29th, 2020 at 1:13 pm
Bob in Valrico, BA said that he thought Brate had left his hip injury behind in a recent presser.
August 29th, 2020 at 2:00 pm
You don’t pay a guy 10 million dollars a year to be third string. Gronk better be the day one starter.
August 29th, 2020 at 2:00 pm
Jimbo
Thats good to hear. He also has been a good red zone target.
August 29th, 2020 at 2:43 pm
Thank you JOE!! I was afraid to look.
August 29th, 2020 at 3:48 pm
Bucsfan81
TE
1. OJ
2. Brate
3. Gronk
Gronk won’t be here next year. Will be trying to OJ and Brate trade dollars up in 2021. As well as Scotty Miller and Justin Watson. Both could bust out this year.
August 29th, 2020 at 7:49 pm
I could believe this. King is a whackjob extraordinaire, but he knows his football.