Patriots TE Hunter Henry (ankle) is questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Bills. He only got in a limited practice on Friday. Henry was able to play through this injury last week, so he has a chance to be active on Sunday. But he’d be a weak fantasy play at far less than 100%.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry (ankle) did not practice on Wednesday. He got banged up vs. the Raiders last week but was able to return to that game. We're still tentatively expecting him to play against the Bills on Sunday, but we'll keep you updated on his status.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry injured an ankle in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Raiders. He's officially questionable to return. We'll update Henry's status when we know more.
Update: Henry returned after missing just a handful of plays.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry led the team with 4 receptions and 51 receiving yards in Sunday's beatdown at the hands of the Cowboys. He was the only New England player to catch more than two passes in the game. WR JuJu Smith-Schuster matched Henry's 5 targets for the team lead. WR DeVante Parker followed with 4. Five others tallied 3 targets apiece. New England gets another tough matchup with New Orleans in Week 5 but a friendlier spot at Vegas the following week.
Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne recorded 4 catches on 5 targets for 46 yards in Week 3’s win vs. the Jets. Both WR DeVante Parker and TE Hunter Henry had some involvement but ultimately flopped with just 2 catches apiece. Helping no one in fantasy, TE Pharaoh Brown led the team in receiving with 71 yards on 2 catches. One of those catches from Brown was the only offensive TD scored by New England. This one was just one of those unlucky games in crummy weather where the Pats didn’t need to throw a ton to pull out the W. Fantasy managers should hope for better results from these receivers next week vs. the Cowboys.
Patriots WR DeVante Parker led the team in receiving with 57 yards in Sunday night’s loss vs. the Dolphins. The veteran recorded 6 catches on 8 targets in his season debut after missing Week 1 with a knee injury. Teammate Kendrick Bourne saw a team-high 9 targets and logged 4 catches for 29 yards. TE Hunter Henry is perhaps the most fantasy-relevant story from the game. He turned 7 targets into 6 catches for 52 yards and a TD en route to logging the most PPR points (17.2) of any TE in the Sunday slate. If Henry is still hanging around on the waiver wire, go ahead and scoop him up ahead of Week 3 vs. the Jets.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry caught 5 of 6 targets in Sunday's loss to the Eagles, collecting 56 yards and a TD. His 6 targets made up just 11.1% of QB Mac Jones' 54 attempts on a day of abnormally high passing volume. Henry doubled TE Mike Gesicki's target count against the Eagles. Henry will push for fantasy-starter consideration in an upside Week 2 matchup with the Dolphins.
Patriots WR DeVante Parker (knee) is inactive for today’s game vs. the Eagles. That leaves JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kendrick Bourne, and Demario Douglas as New England’s top three WRs. Smith-Schuster is a viable WR3 play. TE Hunter Henry could also see an extra target or two with Parker out.
Patriots TE Mike Gesicki (shoulder) returned to practice on Tuesday. He wore a red, non-contact jersey. The former Dolphin isn’t someone we’re counting on for anything close to TE1 production. Hunter Henry, who made our list of undervalued fantasy football players, is the TE target in New England.
It's been a "tough first two weeks of camp" for Patriots TE Mike Gesicki, The Athletic's Chad Graff writes. "He has not been frequently targeted in drills and has made little impact when targeted," Graff adds. He concludes point blankly that, "Hunter Henry is TE1 over Mike Gesicki." That's especially noteworthy considering Gesicki still sits ahead of Henry in most ADP data. That's not the case in our 2023 TE Rankings.
Evan Lazar of the Patriots' official website writes that TE Hunter Henry has been QB Mac Jones' "favorite target" in camp so far. "The duo has shown great chemistry heading into year three," Lazar adds. MassLive's Mark Daniels agrees, calling Henry the Patriots' best player through one week of camp. Meanwhile, TE Mike Gesicki is off to a slow start, failing to catch a pass in competitive 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 drills. It's too early to make any sweeping conclusions about this TE corps -- or offense in general. But Henry is certainly out to an early lead on Gesicki.
ESPN's Mike Reiss reports that Patriots HC Bill Belichick "made it sound like the team views [Mike] Gesicki more as a receiver than a traditional tight end, putting him in the category with receivers DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne instead of with tight end Hunter Henry." That came from Reiss talking with Belichick at the recent league meetings. It's not clear whether the coach actually put Gesicki "in the category" with the wideouts, or if that's just Reiss' language. But this is the second Patriots writer we've seen point to Belichick treating Gesicki as more WR than TE. It certainly makes sense. As we pointed out when he signed, Gesicki has had his most productive years when playing primarily in the slot and/or out wide. He fares poorly from a traditional inline TE position. The biggest takeaway for fantasy football players is that it seems we should expect Gesicki to compete more with New England WRs for targets than with Henry. We'll keep watching for further signals on the usage for Gesicki, Henry, and the rest of an offense that will operate under a new OC (Bill O'Brien).
The Patriots are signing TE Mike Gesicki to a one-year deal worth "up to" $9 million, according to multiple reports. Gesicki was a forgotten man in HC Mike McDaniels' Dolphins offense last year, mustering just 32 catches for 362 yards and 5 TDs on a 45% snap rate. He's still just 27, though, and topped 700 receiving yards in both 2020 and 2021. He finished both of those seasons as a top-9 TE in PPR points, while ranking 6th and then 13th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade. Gesicki joins Hunter Henry in New England's TE room, but the two have played different roles to date. Henry played a career-low 26.5% of his pass snaps inline (according to Pro Football Focus) and a career-high 61.6% in the slot in 2021, his first year with the Patriots. Last season, though, he spent exactly the same amount of time (43.3% of pass snaps) in each role -- with a career-low 10.3% out wide. Gesicki has spent just 19.5% of his career snaps inline -- the traditional TE spot -- 58.9% in the slot and 21.1% out wide. Considering the current state of the New England WR corps (JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne), there's room for both TEs to be relevant. We'll look for clues on how the targets will be divvied. For now, don't consider Gesicki more than a low-TE2 in fantasy football drafts. And there's no reason to downgrade Henry's fantasy outlook. He has already been going in mid-TE3 range of best ball drafts. His career-long penchant for end-zone targets makes him well worth mixing in at that level.
The Patriots are trading TE Jonnu Smith to the Falcons, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The move primarily looks like a salary dump for New England. Smith caught just 55 passes at 9.8 yards per reception across two seasons after signing a $50 million deal as a 2021 free agent. Atlanta might seem like an awkward fit for him as well, with TE Kyle Pitts already on hand. But the third-year Falcon is more receiver than TE. He has played just 21.8% and 25.6% of pass snaps from an inline position the past two years. Smith, meanwhile, has never run less than 52.6% from there. He was inline on 59.5% of routes last year and topped 64% in each of his first three NFL seasons. He spent those three years -- plus one more -- playing under current Falcons HC Arthur Smith. In Tennessee, Smith served as TEs coach over Smith's first two years, and then OC for the other two. Smith increased his receptions every season there but topped out with a 41-448-8 receiving line in 2020. It'll be similarly tough for Smith to find much fantasy value in Atlanta's run-heavy offense. And we're not downgrading Pitts' outlook for the short or long term on Smith's arrival. Check our dynasty rankings to see how optimistic we remain on Pitts. Smith's departure from New England, meanwhile, certainly can't hurt TE Hunter Henry's opportunities.
The Patriots hired Bill O'Brien as OC. He returns to the same position he held in 2011, when New England ranked 2nd in total yards and 3rd in points with QB Tom Brady. O'Brien was also on the Patriots' offensive staff from 2007 to 2010, so he has plenty of familiarity with the organization. Since leaving New England after that 2011 campaign, O'Brien spent 2 years as Penn State's HC, 7 years as the Texans' HC and, most recently, the past 2 years as Alabama's OC. If nothing else, the Patriots will have a legitimate offensive mind running the offense in 2023 -- something they didn't have this past season.
Patriots TE Jonnu Smith (concussion) is out for today's game vs. the Bills. That gives TE Hunter Henry the potential to play a big role again. He registered a 100% route rate and 18% target share last week. The issue is the matchup against the Bills, who rank 2nd in both adjusted fantasy points allowed to TEs and Football Outsiders' TE coverage rankings.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) is active for today’s game vs. the Dolphins. Henry got in 3 limited practices this week after getting knocked out of last week’s loss to the Bengals. It’s unclear if he’s ready to play his usual role today, leaving him in TE2 territory in the Week 17 Rankings.
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