3 Problems a Gronk Return Won't Fix

1: Rookie Mistakes

The growing pains of Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson have been well documented. The two rookie receivers have made some plays so far this season, but also driven Tom Brady b-a-n-a-n-a-s at times with drops and misreads. Gronk's return will help in the sense that Brady will be less reliant on these unreliable (for now) players, but it won't make Thompkins and Dobson flip a switch and instantly look like seasoned veterans. The only cure for rookie mistakes is time, as no rookie season goes smoothly when the players get this kind of baptism by fire. 

2: Offensive Consistency

This ties into my first point about the rookie receivers. The offense, as a whole, has been very inconsistent, showing flashes of improvement in the Tampa and Atlanta games before crashing down to earth against the physical Bengals. The inconsistency has largely been a result of aforementioned rookie growing pains and missing playmakers.

With Gronk back and Amendola playing for the second-straight week, the missing playmakers excuse is dying fast. Assuming Stevan Ridley returns from his knee injury this week, Shane Vereen will be the only contributor missing on Sunday.

The question then becomes whether this offense is good enough to eliminate it's inconsistencies. It's a valid question, as we haven't seen this offense yet all year. How Josh McDaniels mixes the usage of his backs, Gronk, Amendola (depending on how close to 100% he is) and the rookies will be a story to watch for the rest of the year.

Getting a player of Gronk's caliber in the fold will obviously help, but no player can single-handedly make or break an offense (unless that player is Adrian Peterson, whom I suspect is not human). Gronk will make plays and demand extra attention from the defense, but LeGarrette Blount's fumble or Brandon Bolden's dropped screen pass last week are the type of miscues that will stall a drive regardless of Gronk's presence on the field.

One other thing of note: Tom Brady has, at times, gotten into the bad habit of locking onto one star receiver and forcing them the ball. We've seen that with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Gronk, all in the past five years. With Gronk being Brady's most accomplished receiver by far, the temptation will be there to feed him the ball nonstop to jumpstart the offense. It's a temptation Brady must resist, as doing so makes the offense predictable and often leads to turnovers and third and longs.

3: Run Defense

Can Gronk play defensive tackle?