By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The New England Patriots have seen their tight end position go up in the air. The Patriots once had the best tight-end duo in the NFL.
But Rob Gronkowski has been filling headlines with surgeries, while Aaron Hernandez is presently in jail for murder, as he is accused of murdering his friend Odin Lloyd.
Yet, the Patriots’ tight end job is currently open, while Gronkowski recovers from his injuries. But once he returns, they will need a backup to fill the role that Hernandez had for the past several years.
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Jake Ballard has been trying to fill that role. But according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Ballard may not even make the Patriots roster.
“He’s struggled so much there’s now even a question whether he’ll make the roster,” were Mort’s words.
Ballard has struggled so much that he has been in and out of practice. He has even battled complications from his recent knee reconstruction and microfracture surgeries.
Rookie Zach Sudfeld has passed Ballard in the depth chart.
Ballard did not play last season and played in 14 games during the New York Giants Super Bowl run in 2011. He had 38 receptions for 604 yards and 4 touchdowns.
He also played in a game in 2010 with the Giants but did not record a reception.
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Gronkowski led the team with 55 receptions for 790 yards and 11 touchdowns. Hernandez had 51 receptions for 483 yards plus five touchdowns.
One has to go further down the Patriots’ 2012 roster to find their third and fourth-string tight ends. They were Michael Hoomanawanui and Daniel Fells.
Hoomanawanui had five receptions for 109 yards. Fells had four receptions for 85 yards.
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