Fantasy

Is Rob Gronkowski Coming Out Of Retirement?

by Peter Overzet

7 hours ago

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Underdog:

We’ve been playing the “Will He Or Won’t He” waiting game with Travis Kelce’s retirement ever since the confetti hit the floor at the Superdome last month.

But yesterday we got confirmation from Chiefs GM Brett Veach that Kelce will indeed be returning to play in 2025.

But that somehow wasn’t even the most shocking retirement news of the day at the TE position …

That’s because Broncos beat Cecil Lammey reported that Rob Gronkowski—who last played an NFL game on Jan. 23, 2022—is considering a return to the NFL.

The connection apparently stems from Gronk’s time working with Sean Payton at Fox and loving both Denver and Bo Nix.

Here were my initial reactions upon reading this report:

There’s no way this is happening
Gronk has said over and over again that he’d only ever play with Tom Brady
It’s been 1,129 days since Gronk last played professional football
He turns 36 years old in May
There’s simply no way a 36-year-old is playing TE this year
Wait, Kelce turns 36 years old in October
Goddammit

We have a long way to go until this becomes fantasy-relevant—and Ian Rapaport already refuted this report—but we’ll keep tabs on it.

For now, I’m going to keep my TE sanity by exclusively selecting Brock Bowers and Trey McBride in any draft I do.

In fact, I did just that in our first Fantasy Life mock draft of the 2025 season, which you can read more about below.

SPOILER: Kelce went in the 7th Round …

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The Time To Buy Ashton Jeanty is Now

The 2025 NFL Combine kicks off this week, early-offseason best ball drafts are firing off left and right, and way-too-early fantasy football rankings for 2025 are getting posted. So, what better way to add to the early-offseason excitement than with a mock draft?

Matthew Freedman, Jonathan Fuller, and Chris Allen organized a staff mock draft to evaluate some early trends and strategies while firing off our takes on the draft.

With it being so early in the offseason, players are bound to move … a lot. Up, down, left, right, you name it. ADPs are going to fluctuate more than the 2024 production of the Miami WRs.

So, who’s most likely to move up and down the board over the coming weeks and months?

📈 Ashton Jeanty

Freedman: Wherever he lands, I expect RB Ashton Jeanty to move up after the draft, because then more football fans will learn about him, hype him up, and steam up his draft stock. Right now, I think he's a strong option as the No. 1 RB in dynasty … and if he's the top back in that format, why shouldn't he be at least a top-five back in 2025?

Framed differently: A year from now, I can easily imagine Jeanty being a locked-in fantasy first-rounder in all formats. And if that happens, it will be because he played like a first-rounder in 2025. By the time we get to the heart of draft season in July and August, I can see how it will be common for him to go at the turn of Rounds 1-2.

FULL ANALYSIS OF OUR 2025 FANTASY MOCK

Will The Rich Get Richer?

By Ian Hartitz

Throughout 2024, blowouts became the new normal inside Ford Field, as the league's top-scoring offense was complemented by a feisty defense capable of wreaking havoc with the best of them. The result was a franchise-best 15 wins (the previous record was 12!) and an NFL-high +222 point differential.

And then just like that: The season was over. Jayden Daniels and the Commanders managed to take down Jared Goff and company 45-31 in Detroit, as ill-timed turnovers and the defense's neverending string of injuries finally became too much for Dan Campbell's crew to overcome.

Certainly still one helluva season relative to what Lions fans are used to, but it's still awfully disappointing considering the reality that nobody had better odds to make the Super Bowl entering the postseason.

So, how will they get over the hump for 2025?

THEIR OFFENSE Could GET EVEN BETTER