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SCOUT'S TAKE

Pros: When healthy, “Gronko” exudes a deadly cocktail of excellent hands, route-running ability, and toughness that’s uncommon in most tight ends. He is a weapon that's nearly impossible to take down by one tackler in the open field; players just bounce off him. The Williamsville, NY native does a great job of securing the football when big hits come in his direction. He also makes good use of his tremendous size by shielding his opponents on slant plays over the middle and then proceeds to carry them on his back for another few yards.

Cons: Gronkowski has been recovering from back surgery and says he should be 100 percent in about three months. If the injured Wildcat can improve his blocking, he may be one of the most complete tight ends we’ve seen in years.

Our View: Reportedly, the junior tight end will wait on how he’s graded by an impartial group of scouts before deciding on whether to enter the upcoming draft. He wants to know that he’s going to be a first-round pick. Quite frankly, it would be hard to imagine how he could slip past the first round. Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham is the only player who can be taken before him at his position. He certainly looks the part with his 6’6” height and chiseled frame, but unlike a lot of beefcake types we’ve seen in the past, Gronkowski is a versatile athlete that can be split out wide or as a flanker.

NEWS

01.10.10 - Rob Gronkowski will fly to Marina del Rey, Calif., on Wednesday for a final meeting with the doctor who performed surgery on his injured back in September. How the Arizona Wildcats' junior tight end responds will determine his NFL future —Gronkowski told the Star he will enter the NFL draft if he can be medically cleared by Friday, the deadline for underclassmen to declare. Arizona coaches know Gronkowski's plans. "I'll most likely go into the draft if I can be 100 percent by (next month's NFL) combine," Gronkowski told the Star. "It's tough — it's really tough. As long as I know I can be healthy and can show what I can do, I'd like to give it a shot." A 6-foot-6-inch, 265-pounder, Gronkowski caught 75 passes for 1,197 yards and 16 touchdowns in his first two seasons. – Arizona Star

01.08.10 - Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski is still about 50-50 regarding the possibility of entering the NFL Draft, with a week to go before the deadline to declare. Although the family has yet to hear from the advisory committee — Gordon Gronkowski said he expects the report about Rob’s draft status to come in Monday — there have been encouraging signs from NFL teams and in Rob’s rehab from back surgery that kept him out all of his junior season. “He’s lifting. He’s running as of yesterday,” said Gordon, adding that he is paying for his son’s training in order to preserve Rob’s college eligibility. “We’re taking it day by day. Basically, what he is doing is core strength. The doctors say he is right on schedule.” As for the NFL, Gordon said the family has heard from 18 teams. “Nine of the teams say that as long as he is healthy, he’ll go in the first round,” Gordon said. “Nine teams say he’ll go in the second round.” - Tuscan Citizen

12.31.09 - Arizona junior TE Rob Gronkowski says he is still ‘50-50’ about entering this year’s draft despite the fact he still can barely get out of bed after undergoing back surgery earlier in the year. Gronkowski has indicated he will enter the draft if the NFL’s special draft advisory committee suggests he will still be a first round pick but his availability for pre-draft workouts remains in doubt.

11.05.09 - Arizona head coach Mike Stoops recently commented on the impact of Rob Gronkowski’s season-ending injury, by offering: “That’s been a big disappointment, not having Rob. We’ve had to adjust our offense pretty dramatically. We built a lot of this offense around Rob and his brother Chris (Gronkowski). But losing Rob at the beginning of the year threw us into a little bit of a tailspin, but I think we’ve straightened a lot of things out since then. We kind of formed a new identity not having Rob. He is feeling well. I talked to him on the field yesterday and he feels good. He is working on his core strength right now, and hopefully he’ll get into lifting in the next couple of weeks. It looks like everything is going according to plan as we speak and hopefully he’ll have a quick recovery.”