TE: Sam LaPorta - DET

How about Sam LaPorta? Last season, he had one of the best rookie seasons that we've ever seen for a tight end in real life and in fantasy football. A lot of people thought that he could fit well in this Lions offense and be something special. I was a little bit more apprehensive. I mean, I've lived through the misuse of T.J. Hockenson, Eric Ebron, and Brandon Pettigrew, all guys that were highly touted in the draft. The Lions said that they were going to utilize them as a weapon, and then nothing ever happened. Can you really blame me for not being all in on Sam LaPorta last season?

But I'm also not shocked about how well he played because I knew that he was possibly the best tight end in last year's draft class. The guy was an absolute beast. Through the first eight weeks of the season, he was a tight end one every single game except for two. Now, the back half of the season after their bye, he was a little bit more up and down. He was a tight end one five of the last nine weeks of the year. There were a few inconsistent performances mixed in with that, but from week 13 through week 18, he was a top-six tight end five times.

What we saw from him in 2023 is really what we're going to see from him in 2024. Ben Johnson has a great game plan with the Detroit Lions offense. Jared Goff runs it extremely well. The offensive line is one of, if not the best in all of football. They can do everything that you want on offense, and because of that, it allows everybody to succeed. We don't have to worry about Amon-Ra St. Brown getting a ton of targets, or Sam LaPorta getting the targets, or Jahmyr Gibbs getting the targets. Everybody gets fed. And because they're indoors all but three games this season, this Detroit Lions offense should absolutely hum. Sam LaPorta is my tight end one on the season because, at worst, he's probably going to be the tight end three by the end of the year.