AustinHooper

Oct 5

Raridon replaced Austin Hooper as the Patriots' backup tight end behind Hunter Henry this season.

In Week 1, Henry only played 54. 5% of early-down snaps out of 11 personnel, with the rest going to Raridon. Raridon suffered his thigh injury early in Week 2, leading him to be out in Week 3. Tanner Arkin was the No. 1 backup last week, followed by Cameron Latu. This week, Raridon played 22 snaps in single-tight end sets on early downs compared to 19 by Henry. Henry still dominated 11 personnel snaps on third downs, giving Henry more fantasy value. However, it’s notable Henry only has a 61. 9% route participation rate in the two games where Raridon has stayed healthy compared to 68. 3% in games where Raridon has mostly missed. Henry has been a borderline fantasy starting tight end, but this kind of dip in route participation rate could be the difference between rostering and not rostering Henry. This split will be worth monitoring going forward, as it’s possible Raridon will see more playing time as the season progresses.

Sep 21

Woerner received more offensive snaps than Pitts, reminiscent of 2024. Pitts had a breakout 2025 season, in part because his playing time was much higher in 2025 than in other recent years. However, there started to be some concern in the preseason when Austin Hooper started taking some snaps from Pitts in 12 personnel. That worry continued during the first week of the regular season, as Pitts played only 12 of 22 snaps in 12 personnel, losing snaps to both Hooper and Nick Muse. He played 20 of 32 snaps in 11 personnel, which also wasn’t ideal. In this game, Pitts played a slightly higher rate in 12 personnel, taking six of nine snaps while the starters were still playing. However, in 11 personnel, his snaps fell to 11 of 23. While there was a general tendency of Pitts to be on the field for passing plays out of 11 personnel, and Woerner for run plays, Pitts was still restricted to 16 of 21 passing plays.