The New England Patriots, riding a six-game winning streak, will hit the road to face the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. They may be without wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, however. The 23-year-old left the Patriots’ Week 9 contest against the Atlanta Falcons with a hamstring injury. Coach Mike Vrabel said Monday morning that Boutte is day-to-day and that he doesn’t expect him to practice early on this week.
While Boutte’s absence is likely to lead to more snaps for rookie Kyle Williams, it could also open the door to increased fantasy production for DeMario “Pop” Douglas in Week 10.
Douglas scored 20.0 PPR fantasy points against the Falcons, reeling in four his his six targets for 100 yards and a touchdown. He is averaging 11.6 PPR fantasy points per game since Week 6, when he had three receptions, 71 yards and a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints. A controversial penalty wiped out what would have been a 61-yard touchdown for Douglas that day, too. Taking out that botched call, Douglas would have had 29.2 PPR fantasy points that afternoon, bringing his four-week average up to 14.9.
Boutte, meanwhile, leads the Patriots with five receiving touchdowns so far in 2025. He was averaging 12.0 PPR fantasy points per game prior to as early exit this week, including 18.8 between Weeks 6 and 8.
Douglas finished 2023 as WR74 and 2024 as WR64, totaling three touchdowns across his first 31 NFL games. He has already matched that in 2025, taking full advantage of Drake Maye’s emergence as an elite deep thrower. And while Boutte leads the Patriots with 18.7 yards per reception, Douglas ranks second at 14.6. Douglas also leads New England in average yards after catch, making up for his pedestrian 9.70 average depth of target – a figure that could climb should Boutte miss time.
Week 10 presents fantasy owners with yet another instance of Bye-Mageddon. Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Calvin Ridley, Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor are all going to be idle, not to mention new injuries to Travis Hunter, Matthew Golden and Luke McCaffrey. Stefon Diggs’ arrival lowered Douglas’ floor, since the former Pro Bowler is now New England’s unchallenged WR1, but Boutte’s injury makes him more dependable again. Heading into a potential shootout with the Buccaneers, fantasy owners can be relatively comfortable slotting Douglas in at FLEX.
