2019 NFL Draft Mock 3.0: What if the Redskins traded back?
By Ian Cummings
Out with the Gronk, in with the Fant.
The Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl of the twenty-first century earlier this month, and a big reason why was the versatility that Rob Gronkowski gave them as a blocker and a receiving threat. Even when he wasn’t catching the ball, he was drawing the attention of the Rams’ defense, spreading them thin, so that New England could keep Los Angeles on their toes.
Gronkowski has been a facet in Bill Belichick’s offense for years, but now, after three Super Bowl rings, four All-Pro bids, and five Pro Bowl berths, Gronkowski is contemplating retirement. He was contemplating it last offseason as well, with the beating his body has taken in the NFL, but now, with Gronkowski set to turn 30 years old this offseason, the possibility of retirement is as real as it’s ever been.
Gronkowski’s departure, were it to happen, would come at an opportune time for the Patriots, however. Because the 2019 NFL Draft is both top heavy and impressively deep at the tight end position. One player in the NFL Draft who’s been consistently linked to the Patriots, as a result, is Iowa tight end Noah Fant.
The second Iowa tight end to come off the board in Round 1, Fant isn’t as polished as his teammate, Hockenson, but Fant boasts perhaps more athletic upside. At 6-foot-4, 240, Fant has good size as a receiving tight end, and with competent blocking ability, he can entice the Patriots as their next versatile chess piece at tight end. The Patriots quietly revolutionized the usage of the tight end over the past decade, and with Fant, they can continue to live in the future, in a league where the past is still popular.