Thanks to Rob Gronkowski’s induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame on Saturday, the debate on the No. 1 TE in the NFL has found life once again. Former New England Patriots player Christian Fauria added his take on the subject.

“I don’t think there’s anybody better,” Fauria said on NESN. “Now, Kelce gets a lot of flak because he’s just soft. There’s no disrespect doesn’t mean he couldn’t beat you up in a fight. But when it comes to blocking, I just don’t think he has a willingness to do it. But Gronk could do everything all those other guys can do. He could find the void; he could finesse you in zone; he could run deep; he can run seams, he could run shallows, he can run crossers. And the other thing is that he could play the wide receiver position.

“To me, if you really want to treat the position and grade the position like it should be graded—because you’re not a slot [pass-catcher], you’re not Jimmy Graham like, that’s not the position—if you’re going to do that, I don’t know how you can say it’s anyone other than Gronk.”

Fauria wasn’t making his case without firsthand experience. The former tight end spent 13 seasons in the NFL and won two Super Bowl rings, including during his four years in New England between 2002 and 2005.

The conversation falls back to one criterion: the ability to consistently embrace the physical demands of blocking defenders.

While Gronkowski’s receiving ability made him one of Tom Brady’s most trusted targets, he also took pride in doing the dirty work. Whether it was blocking defenders to open up running lanes or helping Tom Brady’s passes succeed regardless of where he threw it from, Gronkowski contributed in ways that didn’t necessarily reflect in his numbers.

Ninkovich consistently pointed to that quality when making his case for the former Patriots tight end.

“Kelce and [Rob Gronkowski] don’t even come close. He’s [Kelce] a receiver. This guy’s a tight end,” Ninkovich said on stage at Gronkowski’s ceremony.

There was a reason Fauria placed so much emphasis on the less glamorous aspects of playing tight end. His evaluation followed a set of positional criteria outlined by Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh in PSX Draft Insider special.

“I saw this scouting report that Bill wrote, and he wrote up criteria for every position, and he came to the tight end position,” Fauria said. “He didn’t say blocking was that important. He said you needed to be a willing blocker. And that’s what Travis Kelce is. That’s what Shannon Sharpe is. They’re willing blockers. It doesn’t mean they’re great at it. They’re not moving or setting the edge, but they’re not blowing up running plays.”

The numbers further underline why Gronkowski was so highly regarded for the less glamorous aspects of playing tight end. Pro Football Focus awarded him an 88.7 career run-blocking grade and a 72.6 pass-blocking grade.

Kelce, in 2024, was given a 56.6 run-blocking grade by PFF. The number is significantly lower than that of Gronkowski’s, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t block.

Travis Kelce has been part of the run game, even though he is mostly talked about for his pass-catching prowess. Per The Athletic, by early November, the TE had blocked for at least five of the Chiefs’ 10 rushing touchdowns at that point.

“He gives us great effort and he’s one of our most effective blockers,” Andy Heck, the Chiefs’ longtime offensive line coach, said of Kelce, via The Athletic. “He’s such an important piece of our passing game that we don’t want to wear him out with that. But when we ask him to do those jobs, he does a great job.”

It is difficult to pick between Kelce and Gronkowski when it comes to crowning the best TE in the modern NFL. But what cannot be taken away from both of them is their body of work, and that they have relentlessly proven why they are among the best in the league. So, while this debate will occasionally spark up in the lead-up to both TEs’ chances of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame, their legacies are distinct.

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