Sam LaPorta enters his fourth season with the Detroit Lions. His fantasy price has drifted well behind the tight ends drafted around him. There is a lot to work through with the former first-round pick. Should fantasy managers be drafting LaPorta in 2026?
Should You Draft Sam LaPorta in Fantasy Football?
The Lions offense is always attractive to fantasy managers.
Start with the numbers. LaPorta’s ADP is 71.2, and PFN ranks him a little higher at 64th overall. He is TE6, just outside the top five at his position, with a projected 11.25 points per game in 2026.
He has the unique and exalted distinction of earning the PPR TE1 mantle as a rookie in 2023, and no one has topped it since. He remained a top-10 tight end in 2024 and kept up an inspiring touchdown volume along the way. Then a back injury in 2025 limited him to 9 games, and a hip injury held him out for part of the summer as well.
When he was healthy in 2025, LaPorta still ranked sixth in fantasy points per game among tight ends at 7.4, and fifth in yards after the catch per reception at 6.8. The efficiency was still there in that window.
The injuries are enough of a concern that extension talks with the Lions have stagnated heading into the final year of his rookie contract. But that means LaPorta enters the season with something to prove. He is a trusted target of Jared Goff’s to the highest degree, he will be operating behind a sturdy offensive line, and his ability as a safety blanket working over the middle of the field, up the seam, and in the red zone is invaluable to this scheme.
Because of the nature of those injuries, I am a touch hesitant to draft him above his current ADP. He will also face a decent amount of target competition, with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams in the passing game and Jahmyr Gibbs siphoning touches out of the backfield.
Nevertheless, when he is healthy, LaPorta has a steady place in a prolific passing offense that had the 11th-highest pass rate in 2025. At his ADP, in my opinion, he is a sensible investment with verifiable top-five production potential at the position. Just keep an eye out for insurance plans later on.
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Sam LaPorta’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Analysis provided by PFN Analyst Kyle Soppe.
Isn’t it funny how these things work?
LaPorta is 25 years old, and it feels like we’ve already run the full course of emotions.Â
As a rookie, he was a difference maker; as a sophomore, he couldn’t live up to the lofty expectations he had set; and last season, he scored just 3 times before missing 8 games.Â
All reports are that the TE is ready to roll to open this season, and that’s enough for me. This is the best offense in the league, and with a career catch rate trending toward 74%, Sam has plenty of SuPorta from Jared Goff and company.
The Saints aren’t a layup matchup, but they ranked outside of the top-20 defenses in yards per attempt and completion percentage on short passes a season ago. There are a lot of mouths to feed in this Lions juggernaut, and that’s going to result in some duds for all involved, but I think you treat them all the same: play them every single healthy week and let the chips fall.
This is an interesting direction to go in DFS contests: his teammates figure to soak up plenty of ownership, and that could open up a leverage opportunity.
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Where LaPorta Ranks Among 2026 Tight Ends
- Brock Bowers | LV
- Trey McBride | ARI
- Colston Loveland | CHI
- Tucker Kraft | GB
- Tyler Warren | IND
- Sam LaPorta | DET
- George Kittle | SF
- Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE
- Kyle Pitts Sr. | ATL
- Dalton Kincaid | BUF
- Isaiah Likely | NYG
Want to dive in more? PFN's Complete PPR Tight End Rankings are updated weekly.
