Rob Gronkowski is so damn good at football and fantasy football that many people, including analysts, undervalue him even when they unanimously agree that he’s the league’s best tight end. To prove it, I’ve compiled a list of rankings from respected fantasy analysts that have already published early 2013 fantasy football rankings:

You’ll notice that each one of them did in fact rank Gronkowski as the top tight end and they nailed that portion on the head. However, only Evan Silva’s ranking slotted him in the first round of the standard 12-team league. I truly believe it would be a travesty if he were not selected in the first round. You will notice his dominance just by glancing at his career statistics:

Over these past three seasons, only Gronkowski (three times) and Calvin Johnson (twice) have reached double-digit receiving touchdowns more than once. Even missing five games this year due to a broken forearm could not keep him from continuing his scoring prowess. He has finished first among tight ends in touchdowns in each year and is a safe bet to continue that streak. His FPPG alone would cement him as a sure-fire round two pick, but it’s his position that sets him apart. So let’s take a deeper look into the foremost right category and compare him against fellow tight ends:

His average FPPG over the past two years is a ridiculous 13.89, which translates to 222 points over a full sixteen-game season. Even by only extrapolating his more modest 13.00 FPPG from 2012, we end up with a 208-point total that no other tight end has ever eclipsed. The second best tight end over that stretch, Jimmy Graham, averaged 10.94 FPPG. While that’s very good by itself, it’s still a nearly three-point drop off from Gronkowski. If that isn’t enough to get the Value Based Drafters buzzing, then knowing the third best tight end over that stretch is more than five points below Gronkowski will.

If you’re unsure what Value Based Drafting is, FootballGuys.com eloquently described the principle of VBD:

The value of a player is determined not by the number of points he scores, but by how much he outscores his peers at his particular position.

Ultimately, drafting Rob Gronkowski will secure your fantasy team a major advantage week to week at a particular position. Adrian Peterson and Calvin Johnson are the only other players that will arguably do the same. Those two are more than firmly locked into the first round and you’ll regret letting Gronkowski slipping out of it.

Update (June 12th, 2013): Injury concerns have mounted for Rob Gronkowski. The infection in his surgically repaired arm has been eradicated and that injury should be put in the past before the season begins. However, the biggest concern with Gronkowski is now the back injury that he is scheduled to have surgery for later this month. He is in jeopardy of missing the beginning of the season, but I expect that his issues will lead him to fall farther than he should in most fantasy football drafts. As I mentioned in this article, he missed five games in 2012 and still led all tight ends with 11 touchdowns and finished second at the position to Jimmy Graham.

Even only having Gronkowski as your starter for one-half a season and using an average tight end to fill in the remaining weeks would likely still earn your team at least a second place finish in total fantasy point scoring from the tight end position. According to their FPPG over past two seasons, Rob Gronkowski would only need roughly 12.5 games to match a full 16-game season from Jimmy Graham. Gronkowski would only need roughly 10 games to match a full season from Aaron Hernandez, the third best tight end in FPPG over that stretch. Hopefully there will be a timetable for his return soon, but even now, I will begin to consider Rob Gronkowski as early as the 3rd round in 2013 fantasy football drafts.