Analyze Luther Burden Jr's matchup for week 9
Ranked as the TE16 rest-of-season, Hunter Henry remains a high-floor, low-ceiling play whose consistent target share keeps him in the low-end TE1 mix for Week 9; start him if you value 8–12 PPR points over a lottery ticket.
Operating as New England’s primary inline option, Henry has averaged 5.3 targets and 41 yards over his last four while handling 78 % of the team’s tight-end snaps. The unspecified Week 9 opponent has allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to tight ends this year (14.3 PPR per game) and surrendered five TDs to the position in their last three contests. With the Patriots projected for neutral-to-positive game script and red-zone pass rate ticking up to 62 % since Week 6, Henry’s stable floor and touchdown probability both get a mild boost.
Steady but unspectacular—four straight weeks of 3-5 catches and 35-55 yards, zero 100-yard games, yet only one total dud (2.1 PPR) and two scores since Week 4.
Hunter Henry’s profile is the embodiment of a "safe" tight end in 2025. He runs a route on 72 % of Mac Jones’ dropbacks, sees a 17 % target share inside the 20,, and has yet to play fewer than 70 % of offensive snaps in any game. That usage keeps his PPR floor above 8 points virtually every week, something only seven tight ends can claim. The downside is a 6.9-yard aDOT and only two targets of 20-plus air yards, so week-winning explosions are unlikely unless he scores. Against a defense permitting the league’s sixth-highest catch rate to tight ends (75 %), Henry’s short-area reliability should translate to another 4-5 reception, 40-50 yard day, with a 35-40 % chance of a TD based on red-zone volume and opponent tendency. For managers who roster elite options on bye or streamed waiver fliers, that combination of median outcome and low volatility is exactly what you want; he won’t lose you a week and preserves upside for the rest of your lineup to chase ceilings. Bench him only if you own a top-five stud or are in a standard-scoring league where yardage is king.