Super Bowl 2012: Aaron Hernandez Could Have a Huge Impact on Game

The New England Patriots have the NFL's best tight end duo, and because of that, the fact that Rob Gronkowski is battling a badly sprained ankle may not slow the team down in Super Bowl XLVI.

Fellow second-year tight end Aaron Hernandez has shown he is more than capable of shouldering a big portion of the team's offensive load.

In 14 games this season, Hernandez racked up 79 receptions for 910 yards and seven touchdowns. He has added to that with 11 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown in two postseason games. That followed a rookie season in which the Florida product had 45 catches for 563 yards and six scores.

With Gronkowski unlikely to be at 100 percent on Sunday, Hernandez may see his responsibilities jump up considerably. I don't see that being a problem for New England.

While "Gronk" has been a go-to guy all season, Hernandez is actually quicker and can stretch the field more easily than his bigger counterpart. He may actually be the better pure receiver of the two, and that's saying something when you consider that Gronkowski had 90 catches for 1,327 yards and an NFL-record (for tight ends) 17 touchdown catches this season. 

While Gronkowski will undoubtedly play on Sunday, the Giants are sure to focus on shutting him down. That should leave Hernandez in single-coverage with safeties and linebackers all day. He must take advantage.

Quarterback Tom Brady will certainly expect a lot out of both of his young tight ends, and he will look to them often during the Super Bowl. Earlier in the year, Brady claimed that he has been extremely hard on both guys, but only because he expects so much out of them. 

To me, that means Brady trusts his young tight ends. On Sunday, with Gronkowski slowed, expect Hernandez to receive a lot of attention from his veteran quarterback.