Analyze Hunter Henry's matchup for week 9
Hunter Henry draws a cupcake home matchup with an ascending Drake Maye, making him a locked-in TE1 with a safe 6-target floor and multiple red-zone looks likely against Atlanta’s TE-friendly defense.
Atlanta has bled 11.7 YPG and a TD to tight ends through eight weeks, ranking 24th in the NFL while consistently losing one-on-one battles versus bigger bodies over the middle. With New England installed as 5.5-point favorites, sustained drives and positive game script should funnel 6-8 looks Henry’s way, especially on third down and inside the 20 where he’s already Maye’s security blanket.
66-674-2 in 2024 (6th among TE in receptions) and currently pacing 6+ targets a game with Maye playing at an MVP level—118.7 QB rating, 8:1 TD:INT over last three starts.
Hunter Henry’s 2024 line—66 grabs on 97 targets with a 68 % catch rate—established him as one of the league’s steadiest mid-tier tight ends, and the early-2025 tape shows the same reliable 10.2 YPC intermediate weapon who wins with precise routes and strong hands. Drake Maye’s leap from promising rookie to second-highest-graded passer (118.7 rating) has super-charged the entire Patriots offense; Henry already benefits with red-zone peeks and third-down trust, and that rapport should only tighten as the year progresses. This week’s matchup is the icing on the cake: Atlanta’s linebackers have been routinely exploited by inline and flex tight ends, allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to the position and a league-worst 9.0 yards per reception to TEs, meaning Henry can win on both volume and efficiency. Add in a home dome track where New England should control tempo via a banged-up Falcons offense that’s scored 10 points in consecutive games, and you get a projection of 6-8 targets, 5-6 catches, 55-65 yards and a score—numbers that land him inside the top-10 tight ends for Week 9.