Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski still is wearing a protective sleeve on his left arm, a remnant from a fourth surgery that was needed to replace a plate to heal a broken bone. He is also getting ready for a back procedure that will likely force him to miss regular-season games.
Gronkowski holds 2nd round value when healthy, but it doesn't appear that he's going to be healthy to start the season. At this point we wouldn't use anything more than a 4th round pick on the big TE, and even that is stretching it. He has huge upside, but he's too much of a risk in the early rounds given what we know now. It's a calculated risk, but expect a series of game-time decisions if he doesn't start the season on the PUP list. One setback and he could miss a half (or the whole) season.
Patriots news
