Did Rob Gronkowski set unattainable expectations for himself with his performance last season?
What will Rob Gronkowski do for an encore?Rob Gronkowski lit the world on fire and bullied his way into the record books by piecing together the best season ever by a tight end last year.
Now he has to figure what to do for an encore.
That could be a problem.
Gronkowski racked up a ridiculous 1,327 receiving yards and 18 total touchdowns last year, and fans will likely expect him to check back in somewhere around those figures this season.
That probably isn't going happen. In fact, those numbers may be completely out of reach.
So, to better gauge expectations, I set the line at 1,100 yards and asked a pair of respected bloggers if they expected Gronkowski to finish over or under that figure in 2012.
I was a little surprised by the results.
Erik Frenz, AFC East Lead Blogger: UNDER
It's sad that if Gronkowski doesn't light it up, people will attribute it to his wild offseason and not focusing hard enough. Really, a dip in production could be any number of things, from defenses keying in on him after his breakout season to the Patriots offense simply becoming much more versatile and wide-open than it was last year. He could still be a force at tight end without being a record-setting tight end.
Mike Dussault, Pats Propaganda: UNDER
With Brandon Lloyd and a blossoming Aaron Hernandez, the Patriots won't rely on Gronk as much for big chunks of yardage. He'll do most of his damage on third down and in the red zone. Lots of catches and touchdowns. Not a lot of yards.
Nick Underhill, MassLive.com: UNDER
Last year was a fun and wild ride. It was historical, brutishly beautiful, and likely won’t ever be repeated. And that’s OK. Gronk doesn’t have to record 1,300 yards for his season to be considered a success. Opposing defensive coordinators are going to find better ways to defend him, and, if all goes to plan, Tom Brady should have more weapons to throw the ball to this year. I think 1,000 yards is a good number here.
Stay tuned as we roll out a new over/under each morning for the next nine days.