49ers fantasy football: Are any Niners one of these 10 potential draft busts?
By Peter Panacy
No. 8 Fantasy Football Bust to Avoid: TE Hunter Henry, Patriots
The fantasy market on tight ends in 2021 is notably topheavy. So if you miss out on players like George Kittle, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Las Vegas Raiders’ Darren Waller or even Atlanta Falcons rookie Kyle Pitts, you might be forced to scramble for a TE1 option.
Some could easily view one of the New England Patriots’ new offseason additions, Hunter Henry as a safe mid- or late-round add, particularly in light of Henry shaking off a seemingly year-to-year reputation of being exceptionally injury-prone.
Those injury risks are still there, though, despite him playing 14 games with the Los Angeles Chargers last season.
But the bigger concern with Henry, whose 2021 ADP is rightfully tabbed at 8.02, is whether or not he can have a highly productive first year with the Pats, whose offense was downright abysmal last year with quarterback Cam Newton under center.
Newton will have more weapons, such as Henry, to help him this season. And he’ll also be pressured by New England’s first-round rookie quarterback, Mac Jones. But this won’t alleviate the fact Newton had a career-worst year in 2021 for a full season, tossing just 2,657 yards with an ugly 8-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio. And he hasn’t looked the same since that 2015 MVP season anyway.
Perhaps Newton bounces back this year. Or, possibly, Newton isn’t good but Henry nevertheless is the lone go-to target who benefits.
Either way, a player like Henry seems way too risky if there are other tight end options out there.