What Went Wrong? Sam LaPorta Burned Everyone, But Can He Be Trusted in 2025?

Sam LaPorta entered last season as the consensus TE1, unseating Travis Kelce for the first time in what seemed like forever. The Lions proceeded to be one of the league’s finest offenses, but LaPorta was a frustrating player for mangers to roster. His ADP was through the roof in 2024, and the final product wasn’t even close to justifying it. So if he’s a great player, and the Lions had football’s best offense, what went wrong?

When I say Detroit had the best offense, I’m not kidding. They scored the most points (564), ran the most plays (1,118) and gained the second most yards per play (6.2). With this setup, it seems unfathomable that LaPorta wasn’t a rousing success. But amid all this team success, there were issues that limited LaPorta. For starters, the Lions dominated teams thoroughly on the ground. They ran the third-most times in the NFL, with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs serving as the unquestioned heart and soul of this high-scoring outfit, and with those two combining for 32 of the Lions’ 68 touchdowns. They attempted the 16th-most passes, which means LaPorta would need a huge chunk of that pie. That’s the second problem. LaPorta’s usage just went way down from his rookie year, and that naturally took a nasty bite out of his final production.

After setting the fantasy world on fire as a rookie, LaPorta’s sophomore campaign ended with 60 receptions, 726 yards and seven touchdowns. Those are fine numbers for the position, but they’re dreadful when they cost a second round pick in drafts. LaPorta was down 26 receptions, 163 yards and three touchdowns from his rookie campaign, and he also saw 37 fewer targets. Why? The biggest factor was the emergence of Jameson Williams. Williams finally broke out in 2024, drawing 91 targets, up from 42 in 2023. Williams scored seven touchdowns in 2024, matching LaPorta’s total, and averaged 17.3 yards per reception, adding in a layer of efficiency that was missing the previous season and made up for with LaPorta’s prowess.  This is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, this goes to show that LaPorta’s phenomenal rookie campaign wasn’t necessarily a fluke. His downturn is consistent with less usage, he remained a Top 10 TE per PFF, and he actually saw increased efficiency. LaPorta’s yards per reception rose by 1.8, and he added 1.3 yards per target. LaPorta also registered a single drop all season, remaining one of the NFL’s most reliable set of hands.

On the flip side, Williams isn’t going anywhere. He is also an important element of this high-powered offense, and when he eats, there’s not much left for the rest of the skill players unless he leaves them near the goal line. And in that case, it’s runnin’ time with Gibbs and Montgomery. The biggest red flag of LaPorta’s rookie season was that he hit double-digit touchdowns and that was a main driver of his value. He did put up consistent catch and yardage numbers, but they weren’t exceptional on their own. It was well-noted that a TD drop could affect him pretty severely, and it did. What we couldn’t predict was that his overall usage would drop so dramatically. With that said, when used, LaPorta continued to deliver.

LaPorta saw six or more targets nine times last year, and in eight of those games he either surpassed 50 receiving yards or scored a touchdown. Twice, he did both. It’s also worth noting that LaPorta saw seven or more targets in each of Detroit’s final five games, and he was very productive in almost all of them as the Lions tried to be their best selves heading into the playoffs. LaPorta’s draft price is sure to come down significantly from last year as Brock Bowers becomes all the rage, and that’s good for us. LaPorta’s season was a product of an offense that hummed and didn’t always require him to be fed. Another TE who spent years in that sort of situation was George Kittle, who was an elite player the whole time and is now delivering on that ceiling more consistently. Assuming LaPorta is more of a fourth or fifth round-ish pick, he could end up being a major value. He’s in an offense that should remain elite, although losing Ben Johnson is a bit of a concern. He’s still super talented, and trustworthy, which goes a long way when the Lions do throw in the red zone. He’s also starting to see the targets come a little further down the field; adding efficiency to the resume never hurts.

LaPorta burned the managers who drafted him in 2024, but don’t judge him too harshly. By swearing him off, you could miss a value in 2025, and ignoring values because our feelings got hurt isn’t a recipe for winning championships.