Former Patriots No. 1 offensive playmaker and future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski thinks New England is in need of a No. 1 wide receiver this offseason.
Gronk always did have a natural knack for pointing out the obvious, part of his simple charm that we all watched on his Fox TV work last fall.
“They need a guy like DeAndre Hopkins,” Gronkowski asserted as part of a promotional appearance on NESN.
Clearly the Patriots need a No. 1 pass-catching playmaking option. A guy who as the cliché would say can “strike fear” into an opposing pass defense. That a shortcoming that Hall of Fame cornerback Ty Law has talked about for the past two seasons in weekly appearances on WEEI.
It could be a game-changing tight end. Of course despite a $25 million investment per season at the position, New England does not have one.
It could be a big-bodied threat on the outside that can come down with the ball in almost any situation. Despite last offeason’s trade for DeVante Parker the Patriots still do not have that guy, either.
It could be a speed burner to take the proverbial top off the defense. Despite the second-round pick of the fastest receiver at last year’s Combine in Tyquan Thornton, there’s been no sign the youngster is ready to alter the back end mindset of the opposition.
Heck, a quick slot player to give Mac Jones an instant option on a down-by-down basis would be perfect. But despite Marcus Jones’ 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown it doesn’t appear he has any interest in becoming that All-Pro guy on a regular basis.
So, yes, Gronkowski is absolutely right that the Patriots need a go-to, No. 1 playmaker in the passing game. It’s what we’ve all be saying for years now.
And certainly they could use a guy like Hopkins, who caught 64 passes for 717 yards and three touchdowns over the final nine games of last season to prove that he is still a very much capable receiver.
But as he approaches his 31st birthday this summer, Hopkins is not the answer to the call to two arms, elite hands and sweet feet that New England needs in the passing game.
Sure Hopkins is only two years removed from a 115-catch, 1,400-yard Pro Bowl season. Only three seasons from his three consecutive All-Pro campaigns with Bill O’Brien’s Texans.
So while Hopkins appears to be far from done as a NFL player, he’s also far from the kind of prime-of-his-career offensive centerpiece that the Patriots still very much need.
What the Patriots need is Hopkins circa 2016, a 24-year-old pass catcher with a bright future to build around. Obviously those are tough to find and tough to keep. The come via high draft picks, costly contracts or asset-shedding trades.
But they are out there. They exist. They can be had. We’ve seen it in recent years with names like Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill and others taking their pass-catching talents to new offenses with new QBs to continue to put up huge numbers.
Somehow, though, a desperation has settled into Patriot Nation and the search for the kind of No. 1 passing game option that the New England offense had for most years of a two-decade run with guys like Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Gronkowski and Julian Edelman.
Suddenly social media builds a trending buzz that the Jets are releasing Braxton Berrios, a mediocre option at best.
Others get giddy that the Patriots will reportedly be at Odell Beckham Jr.’s workout, getting an up-close glimpse at the once-great, oft-injured receiver whose best days are almost certainly long in the past.
Even Hopkins, who obviously has a complicated-at-best history with O’Brien from their time in Houston together that ended anything but well, has probably drawn more optimistic attention from media and fans alike in New England than he should.
He’s still a good player. He proved that last year. New England needs more than that.
But Hopkins is not a guy that the Patriots can build a passing attack around for the next three-to-five years. He’s not a guy to pair up with Jones for the foreseeable future to get New England at least in the competitive conversation with dangerous AFC squads like the Chiefs, Bengals, Dolphins or even potentially the Aaron Rodgers-led Jets.
Gronk is absolutely right that the Patriots “need that No. 1 wide receiver.”
But they need to think much grander and long term than an aging Hopkins or a rehabbing OBJ. Those big names are short-term Band-Aids at best.
New England can do better than that. It needs to do much better than that.
