It was a tempered start to 2014 for Rob Gronkowski, but now that he's fully healthy, the New England Patriots tight end is performing at the ridiculous pace that fantasy general managers have come to expect from him.
In Week 8, Gronkowski was at his best. He caught all nine passes thrown to him—three of which went for touchdowns, tying a career high—and amassed 149 yards receiving in a 51-23 blowout of the Chicago Bears.
It's no secret that the 25-year-old wasn't 100 percent to start the season, and that certainly stalemated his impact both in games and in fantasy. But now that he's a full go and back to his regular level of production, he's set to reenter that short list of players who can be counted on to stuff the fantasy stats every single week.
During the lopsided win over the Bears, Gronkowski looked his best in 2014, according to NFL.com's Albert Breer:
The storyline of Tom Brady not having enough weapons has been beaten to death, but ever since the win over the Bengals, New England's offense has been firing, and Gronkowski is a main reason. He was targeted at least nine times in each of those four games.
His role was significantly reduced early in the season to a red-zone target, as he caught a touchdown in three of the first four games but didn't go over 44 yards in any of them. Since then, he's averaging 102 yards receiving and a touchdown per game.
Take a look at his production over the last few games:
Gronkowski's size and elite ability to come down with the ball hadn't gone anywhere with his injury, but those incredible feats and freakish athletic plays became rare. Both of which have been on display as of late, with Gronkowski running a perfectly executed goal-line fade and ripping off a 46-yard touchdown largely with his legs.
Simply watching Gronk get back to making those plays has almost everyone expecting dominance from him for the rest of the year. Andrew Garda of NJ.com tried to talk some folks into giving up the tight end, who is certainly making his fantasy GMs happy:
In reality, the time to trade Gronkowski has come and gone. Failing to reach his typical production early in 2014 might have had some owners looking for a deal. But with Gronkowski notching his first multi-touchdown game of the season in Week 8 and a few more likely to come, fantasy GMs shouldn't take anything less than top-10 overall fantasy player in return for him.
Gronkowski's revival is coming at the perfect time for the Patriots, because they face a brutal upcoming schedule. They host the Broncos and will enjoy a Week 10 bye before facing Indianapolis, Detroit, Green Bay and San Diego.
Don't be surprised if he continues to go off despite facing an improved Broncos defense in Week 9. Antonio Gates caught two touchdowns against Denver in Week 8, and despite the Chargers tight end's incredible season in his own right, Gronkowski will be even harder to contain.
But you don't need a favorable matchup to convince yourself to plug Gronkowski into the starting lineup. All it really takes at this point is proof that he's healthy, and fantasy GMs certainly have that after his three-touchdown explosion. His numbers will come regardless of the matchup, and it would be a huge mistake to leave him benched for any game.
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