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 I Draft Sam LaPorta in Fantasy Football?
LaPorta was an awesome tight end prospect who proved himself immediately. His 14.5 fantasy points per game as a rookie was genuinely the greatest rookie tight end season in fantasy history.
That was a long time ago now. Since then, LaPorta has been much closer to a replacement-level streamer than a true difference maker, averaging 10.9 and 11.9 PPG in 2024 and 2025, respectively. That is the reason his price has fallen.
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Last season was particularly unfortunate. A midseason back injury ended his year after just nine games, which is the kind of thing that lingers in the fantasy community’s memory well past its actual relevance.
Here is what gets lost, though. Even with the fantasy production falling short of where we wanted it, the underlying metrics were strong. LaPorta averaged 2.0 yards per route run and played 90.3% of the snaps. That is elite usage for a tight end, and it is the single most predictive input at the position.
The offensive structure works in his favor as well. Detroit runs a heavily consolidated passing attack built around Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and LaPorta.
More importantly, when LaPorta was active, he sat ahead of Williams in the target hierarchy. That matters enormously, because the best fantasy tight ends are typically at least second on their team in target priority. LaPorta clears that bar in an offense that concentrates its targets.
The injury is the last box to check. LaPorta had back surgery, which is never what anyone wants to hear. By all accounts, his recovery has gone very well and he is all systems go for Week 1. There is no reason to downgrade him whatsoever based on the injury. He is fully healthy.
That brings me to the actual argument. I think LaPorta is one of the most mispriced players on the entire board. Even though I have him ranked in line with his ADP, his upside is right there with Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland. Yet he comes off the board a full round or two after both of them.
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That gap is the opportunity. LaPorta is my TE5 and the TE5 by ADP, and the ranking undersells how much I want him relative to the players going ahead of him.
I do not want to take a tight end early. I do want to get one before the eighth round is up. LaPorta is the guy I am targeting.
Katz’s TE Fantasy Rankings 2026
- Brock Bowers | LV
- Trey McBride | ARI
- Colston Loveland | CHI
- Tyler Warren | IND
- Sam LaPorta | DET
- Tucker Kraft | GB
- Harold Fannin Jr. | CLE
- George Kittle | SF
- Kyle Pitts Sr. | ATL
- Dalton Kincaid | BUF
- Travis Kelce | KC
- Dallas Goedert | PHI
- Brenton Strange | JAX
- Isaiah Likely | NYG
- Mark Andrews | BAL
- Jake Ferguson | DAL
- Chig Okonkwo | WAS
- Juwan Johnson | NO
- Hunter Henry | NE
- T.J. Hockenson | MIN
- AJ Barner | SEA
- Greg Dulcich | MIA
- Kenyon Sadiq | NYJ
- Oronde Gadsden II | LAC
- Gunnar Helm | TEN
- Dalton Schultz | HOU
- Pat Freiermuth | PIT
- Colby Parkinson | LAR
- Terrance Ferguson | LAR
- Cade Otton | TB
