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New England Patriots: Are 4-Tight End Sets Here to Stay?

By Matthew Rewinski

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Gronk. Gronk, Gronk, Gronk. Gronk doing Gronk stuff. What Rob Gronkowski and the New England Patriots did to the Steelers on last week’s Thursday Night Football contest (5 receptions, 94 yards, 3 touchdowns) might be a misdemeanor in some states.

And the terrifying part of it is, we’re pretty much used to it by now.

While Tom Brady and the Patriots offense pretty much had their way with a Steelers defense that looked like they woke up hung over and forgot to study for a calculus test, the Providence Journal’s Brian McPherson pointed out an intriguing formation that New England used twice in the red zone, and both times, the Patriots scored a receiving touchdown.

And by “intriguing”, I mean “terrifying”.

Surely nobody needs a reminder of the Rob-Gronkowski-and-he-who-shall-not-be-named two-tight-end mayhem that Bill Belichick unleashed on the NFL back in 2011. That offense was the third-highest scoring unit in the NFL in 2011, clocking a tidy 513 points scored.

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McPherson notes that the formation New England used in the red zone against Pittsburgh used not two tight ends, but four – Scott Chandler, Rob Gronkowski, Michael Hoomanawanui, and Michael Williams – and used them in pretty much opposite ways in both possessions. From the Providence Journal:

“Gronkowski caught a jump ball in the back of the end zone on one such sequence in the second quarter, one that saw the other three stay back to block Pittsburgh defenders. In the third quarter, the Patriots lined up in a tight set before three of the tight ends split out wide — Hoomanawanui to the right, Chandler and Gronkowski to the left. Gronkowski helped pick off a Pittsburgh defender to clear space for Chandler to make a simple one-yard touchdown catch.”

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels seemed pleased with the results of the triple-XXL lineup, saying “Those guys all have a role in this offense, and they all do different things. We’re happy that we get production from these guys in different ways, whether it be in the run game, protections or receiving, and we’ll try to go forward and find things that they can do to be productive this week.”

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In contrast to the “move” tight ends that are more like wide receivers that you can find on various teams these days, all four of the tight ends we’re talking about here are of the more traditional beefcake variety. Business Insider notes that the smallest of the four dudes mentioned above, Michael Hoomanawanui, is still a whopping 6’4’’ and clocks in at 265 pounds. Michael Williams also logged some time last year playing offensive tackle in 2014 before moving back over to tight end with New England.

Coach Belichick also told the Journal, “The fullback and tight end positions are fairly interchangeable”, and “Whether that’s a fullback and three tight ends or four tight ends, I’m not sure that’s really a big difference”, which could help explain why the team hasn’t signed another fullback after stalwart James Develin was placed on injured reserve a couple weeks ago.

No matter how you slice it, defenses can’t be thrilled to see a literal ton of tight ends on the field on first-and-goal, especially when one currently holds the receiving touchdown record for the tight end position. I don’t think I have to tell you who that is.

Maybe, if we’re lucky, the Patriots can find a way to work a Nate Solder touchdown pass in there, too.

Next: Dion Lewis: A Brief Introduction to the Patriots Running Back

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