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Rob Gronkowski's career stats are a thing of beauty. Depending on where your allegiencies lie, the now-retired (for now) tight end could easily be seen as the greatest tight end in NFL history.
Some could point to Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates or Shannon Sharpe, but for many, Rob Gronkowski's career stats make him the number one tight end of all-time.
Clearly, there will be debate over this, but there is no denying just how dominant a force Gronkowski was with Tom Brady throughout his 11-year NFL career. Just how dominant was he? Let's look at the stats.
Rob Gronkowski's career stats
Looking at Rob Gronkowski's career stats, we see just how much of a force he was on the football field. He ranks fifth all-time in yards (9,286), ranks seventh all-time in catches (621), is third all-time for touchdowns (93), is 12th all-time for wins (111) and ranks first in yards per game (64.9).
While those stats do not scream out number one tight end all-time, what Gronkowski has done in the postseason is what makes him number one for many.
The tight end ranks first in postseason receiving yards (1,163), touchdowns (15), Super Bowl receiving yards (297) and Super Bowl receptions (23), Super Bowl receiving yards (297), postseason touchdowns by a tight end (15), and postseason receiving yards (1,163). On top of all that, he is the only tight end in history to go past 1,000 receiving yards in the playoffs.
Now his stake as number one tight end of all-time is looking better. While Rob Gronkowski's career stats have him in and around the top 10, keep in mind that, on average, he played 50 to 60 fewer games. Jason Witten (271), Tony Gonzalez (270), Mercedes Lewis (243) and Antonio Gates (236) all of whom are top four all-time for games, have a lot more over Gronkowski, who has only played 143 games.
One can only imagine Rob Gronkowski's career stats had he played the same amount of games as the players mentioned above. We could argue that he would be leading in just about every category.
So regardless of where you sit on who is the best tight end of all-time, there is no wrong answer. But Rob Gronkowski is one name that most people would at the top or near the top of the best ever in NFL history.
Stats provided by statmuse.com.
