Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have found tremendous success using tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

While on the BS Report with Bill Simmons on Monday, Michael Lombardi spoke about how Belichick has always sought tight ends as a focal point of his offense. Lombardi worked with Belichick while a member of the Cleveland Browns' front office.

"The day I met Bill Belichick, all he cared about was tight ends," said Lombardi. "I met him in 1991 when he was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. He came in and was looking for the next Mark Bavaro on that day and we were in search for tight ends. We never could really find the tight ends that he's found in New England.

"They are the knights on the chess (board). They can do so much, especially when they have versatility in them. You can line them up all over the formation.

Lombardi also dismissed the notion that Wes Welker is being phased out, countering that argument by saying that Belichick always realizes that teams cannot rely on what gave them success in prior seasons as teams catch up to their schemes.