The Final Five

The Pats had the greatest duo of tight ends in NFL history for the 2011 season with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Gronk had 90 catches for 1,327 yards and 17 TD's. Hernandez wasn't far behind with 79 for 910 yards and 7 TD's. The future looked so bright for them and the Pats offense. Both were injured in 2012, but still put up some great numbers.

As we look towards the 2013 season, fans can only hope for Gronk to return at some point and be his former self. That remains to be seen after undergoing back surgery and four operations on his broken arm.

This has given the other tight ends the chance of a lifetime. They are probably good enough to make any other NFL roster, but they will never match Gronk and Hernandez. Coach Belichick liked what he saw in Jake Ballard when he played for the Giants. He thought enough of him to grab him off the waiver wire when Big Blue attempted to put him on IR. It remains to be seen whether he can come back from surgery on his torn ACL.

Daniels Fells and Michale Hoomanawanni played well last year when they had the chance, but only had nine catches between them. At least they averaged 21 yards per reception.

Brandon Ford and Zach Sudfeld were both undrafted and one year starters from Clemson and Nevada respectively. Sudfeld had a history of injuries while in college.

The Pats have yet to bring any other tight ends into camp. It looks like these are the five who will battle it out for two or three roster spots. I don't think they will carry three because they often use a lineman in three tight end formations if they only carry two.