Mike Ditka, Ozzie Newsome, Kellen Winslow Sr., Shannon Sharpe, Tony Gonzalez, and Antonio Gates, all of whom have been dominating presences at the tight end position in the history of the NFL. Yet, even with that list of Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers, the greatest to ever play the position just may still be playing and what he’s displayed is only the tip of the iceberg.

Even though the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski has battled injuries for much of his career, there’s no denying the impact he has on the game when he hits the field. Blessed with imposing size, versatility, and sneaky wheels for a man that big; Gronk rag dolls secondaries around the league when his health allows him to.

Sure, playing with a future Hall of Famer in Tom Brady would make most players look better, but some would argue that Brady’s beginning of the season struggles was directly attributed to the health status of Gronkowski. Even the veteran QB is wowed by his tight end, having one of the best reactions in sports when cameras caught Brady asking Gronk, “How the (expletive) did you catch that?,” after the tight end’s ridiculous catch in traffic against the Denver Broncos last week.

Consistently leaving teammates in awe, Darrelle Revis knows how difficult it is for opposing defenders who draw the assignment of covering Gronk.

“I feel sorry for them,” Revis said this past week when asked about his teammate. “I really do because Gronk is very tough to cover. I feel sorry.

“I wouldn’t blame them for panicking.”

Earlier this year when the Patriots got off to a slow start and their offense looked like a joke, those struggles could be attributed to the fact Gronk was still working himself back from injury and wasn’t nearly 100 percent. Now that he’s rounded into form, the Pats offense is hitting on all cylinders and Gronk is the catalyst that turned it around.

While it’s largely recognized that Gronk is the best tight end in the game when healthy, the better question for football fans is, is he the best ever?

Granted, stats probably don’t tell the whole story because comparing across generations is tricky when factoring in the evolution of the game into a predominantly passing league.

So for comparisons sake, the best comparisons would be to compare Gronk to past stars such as Sharpe and Gonzalez while also looking at current star Gates, who is having another productive year at the tail end of his career.

Gronkowski’s current 50 career touchdowns already beats the career marks of Ditka (43), Newsome (47), and Winslow (45); and could very well pass Sharpe (63) on that list as early as next season.

Practically half way to the all time mark set by Tony Gonzalez (111), if Gronkowski keeps up his current pace, he could match that total in 2016, his seventh season in the NFL.  It took Gonzalez 17 years to do it.

In 2011, Gronk became the first tight end to ever lead the NFL in touchdown receptions and in his first three seasons, he’s had 38 receiving touchdowns in 43 games; no other tight end has ever had more than 25, that disparity of 13 TD’s is more than impressive, it’s not even fair.

Gronk is a man among boys, owning eight NFL records already for the tight end position, with his 2011 season going down in history as the best season a tight end has ever had. With just five years in the league, Gronkowski has plenty of time to break some more records and with the tear he has been on lately, it looks like he might be on his way to a few more milestones this year alone.

All in all, when Gronk is healthy and on the field, he is the best to ever play it. If health doesn’t cut his career short due to the physical nature in which he plays the game, he has an excellent shot to go down as the greatest to ever play the position.