The Lions’ Sam LaPorta took the fantasy football world by storm last season by shattering the rookie tight end receptions record and finishing as the overall TE1. He quickly shot to the top of trade value charts and appeared positioned for another strong campaign in year two.
Unfortunately, the second-year pro hasn’t taken the next step many hoped he would — instead, he’s regressed significantly in fantasy production. It sounds wild to ask, but is LaPorta better left on the bench?
A tale of two seasons
In his 2023 rookie campaign, LaPorta ascended to the top of the tight end mountaintop with an average of 14.3 fantasy points per game and a season total of 242.3. While most rookies at the position typically take an extra year or two to find their stride in the NFL, the Iowa product hit the ground running with 86 catches for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns.
It makes sense that LaPorta came into the league so prepared for the professional game. While the Iowa Hawkeyes offense may not produce many points, tight end university did recently churn out NFL-caliber talent at the position in George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, and Noah Fant.
Concerningly, the year-two stats seem to suggest LaPorta’s career could be on the Fant trajectory rather than a path to the stardom of Kittle and Hockenson.
LaPorta and the Lions have played six games so far in 2024. The team’s record is a strong 5-1, but LaPorta has only caught 14 passes for 224 yards and one touchdown. His total of 42.4 fantasy points averages out to 7.1 PPG — quite literally half the production of his rookie season.
Why has LaPorta’s production dropped so much?
LaPorta’s regression in fantasy is a multifaceted issue. It can be attributed primarily to minor shifts in offensive philosophy and target distribution, but also potentially to lingering injury.
Changes to the game plan
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson stayed put in Detroit despite rumors he would depart for a head coaching gig over the offseason. However, the offense still looks different compared to LaPorta’s breakout rookie season.
For starters, the passing volume is much lower this season. The Lions averaged 35.9 pass attempts per game in 2023, the league’s ninth-highest mark. Fast-forward to today and the Lions fall 24th in pass attempts with an average of 29.7 per contest.
Detroit is also leaning on the run slightly more this season. They rank fourth in rushing attempts per game with a weekly average of 32 carries. That’s an uptick of three attempts in comparison to last season’s eighth-highest average of 29 runs per game.
Increased target competition
The drop in overall passing volume isn’t the only change to Detroit’s offense. The pecking order for targets, and overall route participation, has looked slightly different compared to last season.
Star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is, of course, still the unquestioned alpha among Lions pass catchers. Sun God paces the team in both total routes run and targets, which makes sense considering his talent level.
With that said, LaPorta appears less involved in the offensive game plan than during his rookie year. Last season, he finished second on the team in routes run and received 120 targets, the second-most of any Lion by a wide margin. For reference, Josh Reynolds finished third in targets with just 64 in 2023.
Now, the introduction of Jameson Williams in the full-time WR2 role has resulted in early changes to the pecking order. Williams is clearly a more dynamic talent than Reynolds, and it’s evident the staff wants him involved whether it’s as a field stretcher or an underneath option. Williams has run 169 routes on the year compared to LaPorta’s 142 — he also outpaces the tight end with 30 targets, 13 more than LaPorta.
Halfback Jahmyr Gibbs has also out-targeted LaPorta on the season with 22 looks of his own. This leaves the tight end fourth on the team in targets, just two targets ahead of the fifth-place Khalif Raymond.
That’s a lot of numbers to read, so for simplicity’s sake, here’s one more stat. Last season, LaPorta averaged just over seven targets per game. Through six games this season, he averages just 2.83 looks per game. It would be nearly impossible to reach last campaign’s production on this significantly lower volume.
A lingering injury?
During training camp, LaPorta dealt with a minor hamstring issue. The more concerning injury arose over a month later when he suffered a low ankle sprain after a Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals. While that injury was a minor, day-to-day one and it’s been nearly a month since, the reality is these knocks add up throughout a full season. It’s possible the ankle is still bothering LaPorta just enough to affect his play.
Fantasy outlook
LaPorta’s struggles are frustrating for fantasy managers, especially those who took him in early rounds of drafts expecting elite production and a positional advantage. A top-tier season may be out of the cards, but the ship hasn’t entirely sailed on success.
Leading his position group
While he’s far from first on the team in targets, LaPorta is still far and away TE1 in Detroit. He’s third on the team in total routes run, but has participated in 96 more routes than the next-closest tight end. Players don’t score fantasy points for run blocking, but he’s on the field much more than his counterparts, having played 78.4% of offensive snaps this year. His job is safe, at the very least.
A high-performing offense
There’s certainly an avenue for LaPorta to increase his fantasy production. While the team’s passing volume has decreased, Detroit still ranks third in passing yards and sixth in passing touchdowns on a per-game basis. As a whole, the Lions offense is second in total yards and third in points per game, too.
LaPorta was admittedly due for touchdown regression after reaching paydirt 10 times last season, but in a high-performing offense, there are scoring opportunities aplenty. The tight end clearly has a nose for the end zone, and while his two red zone targets are concerningly low for the big-bodied pass catcher, one would think LaPorta should receive more high-value looks over time.
Short-term targets
Those who roster LaPorta will be glad to hear he could be in line for more targets beginning as soon as Week 8. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the aforementioned Jameson Williams faces a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy.
It feels like a given that LaPorta could benefit from Williams’ absence. Though Williams has only been targeted slightly over three times per game over his last four contests, that’s still a handful of extra opportunities for whoever the targets go to. If LaPorta receives additional looks over the next two weeks and performs well, there’s always a chance quarterback Jared Goff could throw at the tight end more often moving forward.
Is it time to bench LaPorta?
Entering Week 8, the playoff race in most fantasy leagues is taking shape, which means the margin for error shrinks for teams with postseason hopes.
Positional scarcity
Those with more reliable options on their rosters can consider benching LaPorta. However, most fantasy managers aren’t blessed with two productive tight ends — much less one.
The reality is that the tight end position is a wasteland for fantasy purposes this season. Only seven tight ends are averaging double-digit fantasy points, and of those, only Brock Bowers and George Kittle average better than 12.2 points per game. Cole Kmet, the overall TE3, is producing numbers on par with the WR31 on a per-game basis.
LaPorta may be struggling in fantasy football, but so is nearly every other tight end. He averages 7.1 points per contest, just 1.7 points shy of the 12th-ranked TE, Travis Kelce. Sure, it would be great to see greater production, but it’s unlikely better options are available, especially on waivers. It would be even tougher to find an available TE on a strong offense with the potential upside LaPorta holds.
One more option
There’s one more approach for those who don’t roster another startable tight end. With LaPorta possibly in line for a greater role in the offense while Williams remains suspended, consider keeping him in lineups for the time being. If he has a big week, capitalize on the moment and trade LaPorta in a package for a more productive tight end.
And if no such trade arises? Keep riding the tight end roller coaster with the second-year pro. He’s still one of the league’s top talents at the position.
With the barren outlook of the fantasy tight end landscape, remember you don’t necessarily have to roster a superstar — your guy just has to outscore your opponent’s.
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