7 Bold Fantasy Football Predictions About the Upcoming 2016 Season

Rob Gronkowski Will Score 20 Touchdowns

By Kelly McCann

In case you didn't know, Rob Gronkowski is a beast. And this season he will be a beast to historic proportions.

He's already gone historic on us before, with a 2011 season for the ages. That year, Gronkowski made 90 receptions for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns -- an NFL record for tight ends.

Gronkowski's 131.91 Reception NEP -- points added on catches only -- is the highest mark ever for a tight end. In fact, he holds three of the 10 highest Reception NEP totals for tight ends of all time.

He also has the highest Target NEP -- points added on all targets -- ever for tight ends at 102.9, the only recorded mark above 100 at the position. If you include wide receivers who were targeted at least 75 times in a season, Gronkowski's Target NEP is still the second-best mark ever, behind only his 2011 teammate, Wes Welker. Gronkowski owns an amazing three of the five best Target NEP scores of all time.

Not surprisingly, Gronkowski also has the best Reception NEP per target ever recorded for a tight end at 1.06. Antonio Gates in 2009 is the only other tight end to score more than 1.0 Reception NEP per target.

All of these record-setting marks by Gronkowski came from his historic 2011 season, when the New England Patriots also had a tight end by the name of Aaron Hernandez, who contributed 79 catches for 910 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Why do I bring up Hernandez? Because the addition of Martellus Bennett will give Gronkowski positional freedom he hasn't experienced since that historic 2011 season.

While Hernandez lined up all over the field (even sometimes as a running back) and Bennett will line up almost primarily at an inline tight end position, the formation creativity Bennett's presence alone will give offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels -- and his ability to use Gronkowski in different spots on the field -- will be unprecedented in this Patriots offense.