INDIANAPOLIS - In the weeks leading to the 2010 draft, the New York Giants were looking for a big, run-blocking tight end.

They didn't find many.

"They were all big wide receivers," Giants tight ends coach Michael Pope recalled this week.

Looking to exploit matchups with smaller safeties and slower linebackers, more and more NFL teams are turning to tight ends who look more like basketball players than the so-called "third tackle" that used to describe the majority of run-blocking tight ends in the league.

Nowhere is that shift more evident than New England, where Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez rewrote the record books for tight ends this season. The second-year players combined for 169 receptions for 2,237 yards and 24 touchdowns, more than any tight end tandem in league history.

Gronkowski, who caught 90 passes for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns, left little doubt he would play in the Super Bowl against New York after missing most of the past two weeks with a sprained left ankle.

"It's not a regular-season game. It's the Super Bowl," he said. "You have to treat it a lot differently."

Gronkowski and Hernandez were part of a tight end class from 2010 that could go down as a groundbreaking group.

While Gronkowski set the record for receiving yardage and touchdowns by a tight end, New Orleans' Jimmy Graham - another second-year player - established a new mark for tight ends with 99 receptions.

Cincinnati's Jermaine Gresham, the first tight end taken in the 2010 draft with the 21st pick, had 56 catches for 596 yards and took Gronkowski's place in the Pro Bowl.

Graham is representative of the new wave of tight ends. A two-sport star who played football and basketball at Miami, Graham is long (6-foot-6), lean (260 pounds) and a matchup nightmare for defenses.

"Offensive coaches are exploiting that matchup more," Graham said. "Now you've got a taller, faster, bigger guy who's running up against these linebackers one-on-one in pass coverage when most of these (linebackers) are made to go downhill and smash running backs. It's to our advantage."

The Carolina Panthers were among the teams that utilized a lot of two tight-end formations, with Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey. Former San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci said the Panthers were smart to trade for Olsen and acquire Shockey to pair with rookie quarterback Cam Newton.

"With a young quarterback in Cam, it's quicker to find a comfort zone with the tight ends than it is the timing of comebacks and corner routes and timing routes with those outside receivers that are longer throws and riskier," said Mariucci, the NFL Network analyst.

"So it goes without saying that a tight end in a young quarterback's offense has got to be a factor, and they did it that way."

Not every team has gone with pass-catching tight ends. After seeing all the receiver-type tight ends in the 2010 draft, the Giants took a pass and instead signed Jake Ballard as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State.

Ballard, 6-6 and 275 pounds, caught 38 passes this year - four more than he had in his entire college career.

"There are different ways to skin a cat," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said. "It would be great to have those type of (tight ends). But you have to win with the hand you're dealt and our coaches have down a good job with the players we've put out there and their skill set."

Gronkowski is a different kind of cat. At 6-6 and 265 pounds, he looks like a more traditional tight end. - until he gets his hands on the ball.

"He's more of a physical monster," Hernandez said. "He's huge and hard to bring down and a blocker. I'm more agile and I try to use my quickness instead of just being physical with people."

In a copycat league, Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien isn't sure anyone can mimic what the Patriots' tight end tandem has done.

"They're very bright, instinctive football players that were able to pick up on the system right away. Then they each have unique talents. To me the credit is all to them," said O'Brien, who is leaving the Patriots after Sunday's game to become Penn State's coach.

"So to be able to copy whatever they do is much easier said than done."

BATTLE FOR THE RECORD

Rob Gronkowski and the New Orleans Saints' Jimmy Graham fought until the season's final game for the record for yards by a tight end.

2011 SEASON STATS (RECEIVING ONLY)

	Gronkowski			Graham
Week	Rec.	Yards	TDs	Rec.	Yards	TDs
Week 1	6	86	1	4	56	1
Week 2	4	86	2	6	79	0
Week 3	7	109	2	4	100	1
Week 4	1	15	0	10	132	1
Week 5	4	31	0	8	129	0
Week 6	7	74	0	7	124	0
Week 7	Bye			6	54	2
Week 8	7	94	0	4	39	0
Week 9	8	101	1	6	78	0
Week 10	8	113	2	7	82	1
Week 11	4	96	2	Bye
Week 12	4	59	1	5	84	2
Week 13	5	64	2	8	89	0
Week 14	6	160	2	5	55	0
Week 15	4	53	0	7	70	1
Week 16	7	78	0	4	42	1
Week 17	8	108	2	8	91	1
Totals	90	1,327	17	99	1,310	11