Week 1 Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Patriots vs Dolphins

A pair of AFC East teams meet head-to-head in Week 1 as the New England Patriots square off against the Miami Dolphins. FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds have the Dolphins tabbed as 3.5-point home favorites in this meeting between rivals.

If you need some help with your fantasy lineups, here's our start 'em, sit 'em advice for this Week 1 showdown.

Hunter Henry Fantasy

Start Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots: Hunter Henry is, once again, the Patriots' No. 1 tight end after recording 603 yards and nine touchdowns on 50 catches last year, finishing as the TE10 in PPR formats. While the Dolphins have a solid defense, they surrendered 10.3 fantasy points per game to TEs, ranking 13th-worst in the league. The spread implies that the Patriots will have to throw the ball against the Dolphins and assuming that Mac Jones likes Henry as much as he did last season, it should be a productive fantasy day for the veteran pass-catcher.

Jaylen Waddle Fantasy

Start Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins: Jaylen Waddle impressed as a rookie with his 1,000-yard campaign. Fortunately, he has a great opportunity to replicate that success now that Tyreek Hill is in town, taking some much-needed attention off the sophomore. The Patriots held Waddle to just 88 yards on nine catches in two meetings last season, however, he did find the end zone in both games. Now that Hill is in the mix, New England could shift its attention to the All-Pro speedster. That isn't to say that Waddle will be free to do what he pleases, but it does mean that he could draw some more favorable matchups. Simply put, if you have him, he should be in your lineup.

DeVante Parker Fantasy

Sit DeVante Parker, WR, New England Patriots: Veteran WR DeVante Parker makes his Patriots debut against the debut he played with for seven seasons. While these scenarios open the door for revenge games, don't count on a big performance from Parker. For starters, the 2019 season was his only truly viable fantasy year. Injuries have prevented him from returning to that form and now that he's 29, his best days could be behind him. It doesn't help that the Dolphins gave up the 10th-fewest fantasy points to WRs last year, nor does the fact that Miami ranked ninth in pass-defense DVOA. Maybe Parker still has something left in him, but I'd wait a few weeks for him to prove it before plugging him into your lineup.

Tua Tagovailoa Fantasy

Sit Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins: With a new-look offense, expectations are high for Tua Tagovailoa. While he might produce impressive results as the schedule goes on, any fantasy plans should be put on pause for Week 1. The Patriots are a brutal team for quarterbacks to face thanks to Bill Belichick's football IQ, resulting in New England allowing the second-fewest fantasy points to QBs in 2021. Tagaovailoa had a few examples of this, averaging only 14.7 points in two meetings against the Pats last year. Unless you're in a 14-plus team league, chances are you can find someone better to start this week.

New users earn an instant FREE entry when you sign up for FanDuel DFS! Sign Up Now!

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.