Rob Gronkowski, Tim Wright's Instant Fantasy Reaction Following Week 9

Pregame forecasts called for blizzard-like conditions in Foxboro. Instead, the only things that came falling from the sky were Tom Brady touchdowns.

Brady accounted for four aerial strikes, and the Patriots defense held Peyton Manning in check, as New England earned an emphatic 43-21 victory over the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium. The future Hall of Famer completed 33 of his 53 passes for 333 yards, carving the Denver defense apart underneath.

All four touchdowns went to different targets, an appropriate outcome given who those players were. Rob Gronkowski, Brandon LaFell, Julian Edelman and Shane Vereen each touched pay dirt Sunday and were the recipients of 10-plus Brady targets. The Patriots' game plan appeared to be focused on dominating the middle parts of the field, with no Brady completion going for more than 26 yards.

Player	Receptions	Yards	YPC	TD	Targets
Rob Gronkowski	9	105	11.7	1	10
Tim Wright	0	0	0	0	0

Of course, the abundance of targets made for a fantasy goldmine. Gronkowski led the way with nine receptions for 105 yards and capped off the game's scoring with a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The All-Pro now has eight scores in nine games and appears 100 percent—or at least as close to 100 percent as he'll ever get.

The continued presence of Gronkowski appears to be bad news for Tim Wright, who was nowhere to be found Sunday. After breaking out with a seven-catch, 61-yard performance in last week's win over Chicago, Wright did not receive so much as a target against Denver. His biggest play of the game was a near-chip block on an Edelman return touchdown that went uncalled.

This is to be expected. Wright's presence within the offense has been sporadic all season. Remember the whole 85 yards and a touchdown game against Cincinnati? Yeah, neither does anyone else. For as long as Gronkowski is upright, the Patriots' usage of Wright is entirely dependent on their weekly scheme.

Edelman was pretty much excised from the rotation against Chicago as the Patriots used a ton of two-tight end sets. The same goes for Wright. With the Patriots using Edelman and Danny Amendola at points, Wright's services were not needed. The results speak for themselves. New England doesn't have elite skill-position talent, so Josh McDaniels and Co. are doing a smart thing mixing it up from week to week.

Basically, Gronkowski is awesome and Wright is irrelevant from a fantasy perspective. As you were, peeps. (If Gronkowski gets hurt, though...)

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