Hunter Henry start or sit: Week 1 fantasy football advice

Week 1 of the NFL season is here, and if you’re a Patriots fan, you have hope that the team starts moving back to their winning ways under new head coach Mike Vrabel and second-year quarterback Drake Maye. To start the season, they will host the Raiders as 2-point favorites during the early Sunday slate.

The team added a new head coach, a new (but old) OC in Josh McDaniels, veteran receiver Stefon Diggs, 4th overall OL Will McDonald, and second round running back TreVeyon Henderson to bolster their bottom of the rung 2024 offense. However, they didn’t add competition to Hunter Henry at tight end. Henry will get a chance to be part of an improved overall offense, which should help his numbers improve as well.

Below, we’ll go over Hunter Henry’s outlook in fantasy football for Week 1.

Last season, Drake Maye and Henry had a good connection. In games Maye started, Henry averaged 50 yards per game and would have ranked as TE8 in fantasy. Touchdowns were hard to come by in such an inefficient offense, but those scoring chances should increase this year.

The Raiders were bad against tight ends last year, allowing the third-most fantasy points to the position. That shouldn’t change too much this year, as the defense didn’t improve much. They do get Maxx Crosby back from injury, but he is very much on an island as a great defender on a bad defense.

Start. There are a big group of tight ends going into Week 1 who look like possible fantasy starts and Henry is right there in that group. What separates him this week is a strong matchup against a weak defense, while his touchdown upside rises with the offense as a whole likely improving.

Start. Despite his awful touchdown total last season, Henry remains a strong bet for touchdowns, as he ranked second in tight end targets inside the 10-yard line. And if you aren’t getting huge yardage numbers out of your tight end, you very much need a touchdown to help you in standard leagues.