Break it down -- tight end

My love-hate relationship with the tight end position is all love these days. After years of trying to find the right tight end to be a big part of the offense, Belichick went out and found two.

His obsession with the position goes back to his days with the Giants and Mark Bavaro. And then Ben Coates in the '90s with the Pats. Those guys can spoil a coach. Belichick is so obsessed with the position that he just snagged tight end Jake Ballard off the waiver wire the other day. Ballard had ACL surgery and won't be putting on shoulder pads until next season. But he's a good one with Super Bowl experience. And it pisses off the Giants. Good move all around.

STARTERS
Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. There's not much to break down at the tight end position with the New England Patriots. Gronk and Hernandez are as dynamic a duo as you can find. Batman and Robin? More like the Hulk and Robin. Gronk set a record for most touchdowns (17) by a tight end last season and was rewarded with the biggest contract ever for a tight end. The Pats don't pay their players. Ya, right. It's unreasonable to expect Gronk to match his numbers from last year, but that won't make him any less a game changer. Hernandez is the anti-Gronk. He is shifty. Pretty much a slot receiver. He's almost impossible to cover sometimes and, unlike Gronk, still hasn't reached his peak. His use out of the backfield near the end of last season was something we should see more of in 2012.

BACK-UPS
When Gronk and Hernandez were rookies the Pats had veteran Alge Crumpler on the roster as mentor and motivator. It sure worked. I was disappointed when Coach Crump wasn't brought back last year but Belichick figured the two young players didn't need any more mentoring. Once again he was right. Daniel Fells and rookie Tyler Urban are currently the other tight ends on the roster. Belichick uses tight ends so much in the offense that a third one is actually needed. Right now that guy is Fells.

I love the tight end position.

No you didn't!

I had a nightmare last night that the Patriots used their first pick in the second round to take yet another tight end. Actually, in my dream, the Pats traded up in order to draft a tight end. The Pats almost never trade up. Whew. I'm glad it was only a dream.

OK, it wasn't a dream. Belichick did it again. He drafted a tight end with the 10th pick of the second round. So many good players available who play all the other positions. And he drafted another tight end. A guy named Rob Gronkowski from the University of Arizona. I felt like Harrison Ford in the scene from "Indiana Jones" when he looks down to the floor of the newly-unearthed temple and sees it covered by the thing he hates most -- snakes. He rolls over and says with a mix of exasperation and depression ... "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes."

A tight end. Why did it have to be a tight end.

Belichick and his never-ending quest for the giant guy who can block, catch, run, and solve the world's financial crisis. He just never gives up. Will Gronkowski be another Graham or Watson? A high draft pick who doesn't quite live up to expectations that come along with being chosen that high. We'll see. The scouting reports on him are glowing.

"The big, athletic tight end has exceptional tools, and is one of the few complete players at the position available in the draft," says NFL.com. OK. That sounds promising. Many other reviews had him as a player capable of making an impact as a starter right away. Maybe I've been too rash about this whole tight end thing. The next line from NFL.com... "He has been a standout tight end..." (good, good) ..."when he has been healthy enough to stay on the field. Unfortunately he has missed a total of 16 games over the past two years due to injuries or illness." Uh oh. And this from Patriots.com... "The only possible negative with the pick is his history of back problems. He missed all of 2009 after undergoing microdisectomy surgery of his lower back." Microdisectomy surgery? Yes, I can see that being a possible negative. Word is Gronkowski is completely healed. We'll see. These things never seem to work out.

Tight end pick aside, the Patriots had what appears to be a great second day of the draft. They followed the Gronkowski pick with back-to-back linebacker selections. One inside. One outside. That improved my mood greatly. Jermain Cunningham of Florida is a defensive end but could very well shift to outside linebacker. Reports say the 6'-3'' 260-pounder is quick at the snap and can get into the backfield. A few picks later the Pats made their third choice of the second round and went with Cunningham's Gator teammate, inside linebacker Brandon Spikes. He's described as an old-school middle linebacker. After watching some video of him bringing guys down I would say that's a good description. He also missed a game last year. But it wasn't because of a bad back. It was because of "an on the field incident." I can't wait to see this guy line up in the middle next to Mayo.

The Pats had one pick in the third round, acquired in the first day dealing, and added wide receiver Taylor Price from Ohio. The team passed on guys like Dez Bryant, Golden Tate, and Damian Williams -- players I thought could have been key contributors and made a great tandem with Randy Moss in the way Moss did when he was a young player with Chris Carter in Minnesota. Price certainly has good size at 6'-0'' and reports say he has great hands and all the physical skills to make it. Here's hoping Randy takes him under his wing and teaches him all he needs to know. While he's at it he can teach that tight end a few things too.

Tighten up

The tight end position. NFL teams are always looking for that next great tight end. I am always looking for the Patriots to stop drafting them in the first (or second, or third ...) round. If I hear the words "With the 22nd pick in the NFL draft, the New England Patriots select tight end..." I'm leaving the party.

It's not that I have anything against the guys who play TE. I don't. In fact, some of my favorite Patriots have played the position. Russ Francis. Ben Coates. Jermaine Wiggins.

I grew up watching Francis play the game like a rock star. Long hair, mustache, always a huge grin. His helmet was always off long before reaching the sideline. He was the Tom Selleck of tight ends. But he was a much better football player than Magnum P.I. was an actor. Francis was a big part of the '70s teams that got me hooked on the Pats. He was taken with the 16th pick in the first round in 1975 and the laid back Hawaiian did not disappoint. He and Steve Grogan connected on many big plays and helped make the franchise a winner. Russ Francis was the man. At least that's what I thought after the time I saw him out with a few lady friends while I was having dinner with my parents at the Honolulu restaurant on Rte. 1 in Norwood. I was about 13-years-old and Francis was more than gracious to turn his attention away from his four female dining companions to sign an autograph for a young fan. Thanks Russ. A great role model.

If Francis was the coolest tight end to ever wear a Patriots uniform, then Ben Coates was the toughest. The original Big Ben, he was the opposite of Francis. A fifth-round selection in '91, Coates was mostly an afterthought in his first two pro seasons. Like every good receiver, Coates needed someone to get him the ball. That someone was Drew Bledsoe. And boy did Bledsoe get him the ball. Time and time again. Coates was Bledsoe's security blanket. When in trouble or in need of a big play, Bledsoe would look for number 87. He wasn't hard to find. But he was almost impossible to bring down. At 6-5 and almost 250 pounds, Coates was an unstoppable force. He would often catch a pass 10 yards downfield and then drag several would-be tacklers another twenty yards. Some of my favorite memories at the old Foxboro Stadium are watching Big Ben haul in a pass from Bledsoe and carry defenders (often Dolphins) on his back. In 1994 he set a record for catches in a season for a tight end with 96. Francis was the man. Coates was the beast.

Since Coates retired the Patriots have invested lots of draft picks in an attempt to find the next one. Without much success. First round picks Daniel Graham and Ben Watson were solid players, but not really worth first round picks. And in the last few seasons the tight end has been such a small part of the offensive game plan that I'm ready for the Pats to just chuck the position completely. After all, unlike a quarterback or center you don't have to play with a tight end. I was starting to think Bill Belichick agreed with me on that. The team let both Chris Baker and Watson go this month, leaving them without an NFL caliber TE on the roster. Were the Patriots getting sick of being disappointed as they watched their tight ends drop passes or fumble or miss key blocks as much as me? I guess not.

Today the team signed veteran tight end Alge Crumpler. I had him on my fantasy football team a few years back and he ... disappointed. But he's a good pickup for the Pats. In fact, he's all the tight end the team needs. He's 32 with a lot of wear on the tires but might still have a good season left in him. He'll add some veteran leadership and his work ethic is solid. I can envision Brady and Crumpler hitting it off on and off the field. And he comes cheap. He seems like a good fit for the team that doesn't seem to know what to do with the tight end. So no need to use any draft picks on the position, right Bill?