Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Jets. Mike Gesicki will get another game as New England’s lead TE. He’s caught six of eight targets for 50 yards and 1 TD with Henry out the past two weeks.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) is inactive for today’s game vs. the Bills. That again leaves New England with TEs Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown. Neither is a viable fantasy play.
The Patriots have downgraded TE Hunter Henry (knee) from questionable to out for Sunday's game against the Broncos. His absence would seem to be good news for Mike Gesicki, and it might mean a boost in playing time. But Henry and Gesicki don't play exactly the same position. Gesicki has run 71.7% of his pass snaps from the slot so far, according to Pro Football Focus, plus another 19% out wide. Henry has spent 48.1% in the slot; 43.5% inline. TE Pharoah Brown might be the more direct playing-time beneficiary of Henry's absence. Henry'scoming off season highs in targets, catches, and yards, which probably inflates the perception of what he's leaving available. Before last week, Henry was averaging just 4.0 targets and 2.7 receptions per game. Neither Gesicki nor Brown looks all that attractive for fantasy use.
Patriots TE Hunter Henry (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. He never returned to last week's game after going down and is certainly in danger of missing Sunday's game vs. the Broncos. That'd leave New England with TEs Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown. Neither would be a viable fantasy play.
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 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.
Patriots TE Mike Gesicki suffered a "mild" dislocated shoulder in Monday's practice, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "While nothing is given, the hope is he’s back for Week 1 despite the AC joint injury," Rapoport adds. We're not adjusting Gesicki's projections for now but will keep a close eye on his recovery from this injury.
Patriots “TE“ Mike Gesicki went down with an unspecified injury in one-on-one drills Monday, according to Zack Cox of NESN. Gesicki reportedly needed help off the field and did not return. We’ll watch for more specifics.
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.
Patriots TE Mike Gesicki aims to rebound from a down 2022. A change of scenery helps, as Gesicki ran only 354 routes last season — way down from 2021 (539). His targets per route run also sunk, from 22.7% to 15.5% in Year 1 under HC Mike McDaniel. The Pats took a flier on Gesicki, inking the 27-year-old to a 1-year deal worth $4.5 million. He needs QB Mac Jones to bounce back in Year 3. But barring the addition of WR DeAndre Hopkins, Gesicki should hold a role that makes him a fantasy spot-starter. Ideally, he’s your TE3 in best ball leagues.
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.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa returned Sunday night for his 1st game action since the scary concussion at Cincinnati in Week 4. He completed 21 of 35 passes in the win over the Steelers for 261 yards and 1 TD. Tagovailoa took nary a sack, avoided turnovers and even ran for 15 yards on 4 rushes. WR Tyreek Hill led the offense with 13 targets and 7 catches (for 72 yards), while WR Jaylen Waddle paced the group with 88 yards (on 5 targets, 4 receptions). TE Mike Gesicki drew 7 targets for the 2nd straight game but managed just 3 catches for 27 yards. The whole group gets a high-ceiling matchup at Detroit in Week 8, with solid-to-good spots the next 2 weeks as well vs. Chicago and Cleveland.
Dolphins TE Mike Gesicki erupted for 6-69-2 against the Vikings in Week 6. He saw just a 14.8% target share, but he benefited from 47 team pass attempts while Miami played from behind. Gesicki’s usage was encouraging beyond the targets, as he earned a ~77% route rate. This was simply his best game of the season, but we’re not ready to elevate him into the TE1 mix after one productive outing. He’ll likely rank as a low-end TE2 for Sunday’s matchup with Pittsburgh. Look for Tua Tagovailoa to return for that one.
Dolphins TE Mike Gesicki managed 1 catch for 1 yard on 1 target in Sunday's win over New England. Everything reported and witnessed through camp and preseason pointed to alarming change in his role under new HC Mike McDaniel, and this game seemed like confirmation. Gesicki shouldn't be near fantasy football lineups until something changes. He even trailed TE Durham Smythe in targets (2) and yards (14).
Dolphins TE Mike Gesicki rotated with 2 teammates during 1st-team work in the preseason finale vs. Philadelphia. Durham Smythe led the position in snaps across the 1st 3 drives, while Gesicki led TEs in pass routes, according to Pro Football Focus. Cethan Carter also worked in for 2-TE sets, playing 7 such snaps to Gesicki's 5. For the preseason, PFF counted 24 "inline" snaps for Gesicki vs. 14 in the slot, 4 split wide and 1 at FB. That's 55.8% of his snaps inline, compared with the 85% he spent in the slot or out wide last season. The 1 thing that does seem clear with Gesicki is that we should expect his 2022 role to look a lot different than it has to this point -- which doesn't bode well for his receiving production. Gesicki has been a faller in our TE rankings.
Pro Football Focus' Doug Kyed reports a league source told him the Dolphins have "brought up" TE Mike Gesicki in trade talks with other teams. Such a move would make sense for Miami, with Gesicki set to play on the franchise tag and seemingly about to play out of position as an in-line TE. Gesicki has operated much more as a slot receiver thus far in his career and looks much better suited for that type of role. Given the reports this preseason on his deployment as a blocker, a trade would probably be good for Gesicki's 2022 fantasy outlook. We'll see if something materializes.
"It’s been a struggle to get [TE Mike Gesicki] involved in the new offense so far this summer," ESPN's Cameron Wolfe said Saturday. It was part of a tweet pointing out that Gesicki was the last Miami starter still playing late in the 2nd quarter of the 2nd preseason game. Basically an oversized WR listed as a TE, Gesicki always looked like an awkward fit in HC Mike McDaniel's offense, which requires the TE to block quite a bit (think George Kittle). Throw in the increased target competition with the arrival of WR Tyreek Hill, and it's tough to like Gesicki as a fantasy-draft target.
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