New England Patriots: Aaron Hernandez the NFL's Biggest Mismatch Nightmare

In what two words could you sum up New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez? He's an uncoverable freak. 

Hernandez is quite frankly the NFL's biggest mismatch nightmare as the Florida product is built like a tight end, plays like a wide receiver and runs like a running back in open space—essentially he's an uncoverable freak. 

Thus far this season for the Patriots, Hernandez has snagged 27 passes for 289 yards and three total touchdowns—all of which came in only four games as Hernandez missed Weeks 3 and 4 due to a sprained MCL. 

Hernandez is perfect for New England's offensive attack, whose scheme thrives on mismatches, manipulating defenses with multiple formations and getting the ball to their players in space. 

Hernandez may be listed as tight end, but in actuality, he's more like New England's third wide receiver, behind Wes Welker and Deion Branch and ahead of Chad Ochocinco and Julian Edelman. 

New England will often come out in two-wide receiver, two-tight end, one-running back sets in which those formations set up Hernandez to create the ultimate mismatch. Hernandez could either line up as the widest man, the receiver in the slot, a tight end and even a wing off of New England's other tight end, Rob Gronkowski. From there Hernandez always has an advantage over the man defending him.

Let's think about it: How does a cornerback match up against Hernandez? Well, the cornerback is likely too small to compete with Hernandez's physicality. What about a linebacker? That's not even fair; Hernandez is too fast. And last, what about a safety? This is likely the best bet for defenses, but still Hernandez is likely faster than the safety and is just as physical as him.

When you take a look at New England's offense, you can easily say that Tom Brady and Wes Welker are the juice that gets the offense pumping—but not so fast, don't overlook Hernandez. 

No. 81 is New England's Swiss Army knife; he can do it all. 

When the Patriots come out with Hernandez and Gronkowski on the field at the same time, it's likely that they'll end up shredding the opposing team's secondary—that's how dominant Hernandez is at creating mismatches. 

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