Cowboys spotlight: Slowing Gronkowski a near-impossible task
Height: 6-6 Weight: 265
Season: 6th College: Arizona
Strengths: Gronkowski has become the top receiving tight end in the NFL. He received MVP consideration last season after catching 82 passes for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is Tom Brady’s favorite target. Gronkowski has natural receiving skills and soft hands, rarely dropping a pass. His size makes him a good target, especially in the red zone. He has 16 touchdowns in his past 18 regular-season games. Gronkowski has good speed, but he would just as soon run through defenders. Because of his size and toughness, he is tough to tackle, especially one-on-one.
Weaknesses: Durability has been the only thing that’s held back Gronkowski. He missed 16 games in two college seasons because of injury or illness, including losing the 2009 season to back surgery. He has missed 15 games in his six NFL seasons, including five games in 2012 and nine in 2013. He had a broken left forearm in 2012, and he tore an ACL and an MCL in 2013.
Last game: He had four catches for 101 yards in the Patriots’ 51-17 victory over Jacksonville two weeks ago.
Who has to stop him? The Cowboys have not had much trouble with tight ends this season, allowing only 13 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. But they haven’t faced one as good as Gronkowski. Rookie Byron Jones will have the most responsibility for stopping Gronkowski, but he will get help. No one has stopped Gronkowski this season. He had five catches for 94 yards and three touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers; seven catches for 113 yards and a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills; and four catches for 101 yards against the Jaguars.
Notable: Gronkowski has 17 games with at least 100 yards. That ranks seventh in NFL history among tight ends. He trails only Tony Gonzalez (31), Kellen Winslow (24), Jackie Smith (22), Antonio Gates (21), Jason Witten (20) and Shannon Sharpe (19). ... Gronkowski ranks second in team history with 59 total touchdowns. Stanley Morgan owns the record with 68. ... In NFL history, among tight ends, only Tony Gonzalez (111), Antonio Gates (99), Shannon Sharpe (62) and Jerry Smith (60) have scored more touchdowns. ... Gronkowski has 4,687 career receiving yards; only six players in team history have 5,000 career receiving yards. … Gronkowski has a streak of 68 consecutive regular-season games with a reception. That’s every regular-season game of his career since 2010. Jason Witten shares the NFL tight ends record with a 107-game streak.
Charean Williams
This story was originally published October 6, 2015 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Cowboys spotlight: Slowing Gronkowski a near-impossible task."