Rob Gronkowski is having a career-defining season

Rob Gronkowski started the Patriots’ season on the sideline, but despite the lingering hamstring injury and just one catch for 11 yards until Tom Brady returned from suspension in Week 5, he’s having a fantastic season that could end up defining his career.

He’s fresh off of scoring his 69th career touchdown, and Gronkowski is currently second in the league this season among tight ends for receiving yards with 484, despite his lack of production through the first four games of the season.

As is his tradition, Bill Belichick was effusive about Gronkowski’s milestone.

At this point, Gronkowski is the best tight end in the NFL, and it isn’t close. Greg Olsen is still performing at a high level for the Carolina Panthers, and Jimmy Graham is having a decent season in Seattle, but as far as pure talent and production, it’s Gronk and then it’s all the other tight ends in the league.

His talent sparks both animus and respect from his opponents, because at 6’6 and 265 pounds, he’s just about impossible to stop.

Gronk’s 69th touchdown came against the Bills, and despite his myriad accomplishments, they weren’t in the mood to give him credit after losing to the Patriots 41-25 at home.

“He uses his body well, but he’s got Tom Brady,” Bills safety Corey Graham said, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. “I mean, Tom Brady’s Tom Brady.”

And not surprisingly, Gronkowski has been better with Brady.

Tom Brady is great, but so is Gronkowski. He has a ludicrous catch radius and remarkable speed for his size. Defensive coordinators can’t just assign one linebacker or safety to cover Gronk and hope it ends well. It won’t.

There are just a handful of quality receiving tight ends in the league. Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates used to be the gold standard, anomalies in a league that used tight ends primarily as blockers. As teams realized what an asset a sure-handed tight end could be, it changed the game.

The difference between Gonzalez and Gates and Rob Gronkowski is that Gronk is also a powerful blocker. He’s not only the best tight end in the game today, he’s also the most complete player at the position, whether Bills linebacker Zach Brown believes he is or not.

“As far as blocking, no, I do not think he’s one of the best,” Brown said. “Bennett is probably a better blocker.”

Bill Belichick disagrees. Belichick said Gronkowski is one of the best blocking tight ends he’s ever coached, and that Gronkowski takes pride in it.

“There are a lot of plays Rob comes to the sideline and he’s more excited about a block he made on the series than a catch he made, which a lot of tight ends I’ve coached I wouldn’t put in that category,” Belichick said.

Gronkowski passed former Patriots wide receiver Stanley Morgan in New England’s record books with his 69th career touchdown, and at age 27, he should have plenty of career ahead of him to establish some other high marks.

He’s a long way from Tony Gonzalez’s career touchdowns mark of 111, or Antonio Gates with 107, but the difference is the number of games it took Gonzalez and Gates to get it done. Gronkowski has scored 69 touchdowns over just 86 NFL games, putting him on pace to have 216 touchdowns — nearly double Gonzalez’s achievement — over the same number of games.

He’s also nearing the top of the list of tight ends with the most 100-yard receiving games. Gronkowski has 23 in his career, and trails Gonzalez with 31 and Kellen Winslow, Sr. with 24. Gronk has had three 100-yard receiving games in this four-game stretch since Tom Brady returned, and he’s likely to surpass Winslow in the near future. Gonzalez’s high mark is also in reach this season.

Again, what’s key about this category is the number of games it’s taken Gronkowski to get there. It took 270 games for Gonzalez and 109 for Winslow. It’s entirely possible that Gronkowski could match Winslow next week, in his 87th game.

Bills coach Rex Ryan acknowledged Gronkowski’s skill.

“He’s pretty danged good,” Ryan said. “He’s a phenomenal player and he’s been that way for a long time.”

With his age and the pace Gronkowski has set, he’s likely to continue to be that way for a long time, too.