Sam LaPorta

Detroit Lions·#87UNDERPAID

Pos TEHt 6'3"Wt 245 lbExp 3 yrCollege Iowa

Updated September 21, 2026

TE rankings →

Model Score

93.0 MODEL

2023

91.7

2024

91.7

2025

93.0

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

Sam LaPorta Injury StatusNot listed

Sam LaPorta is not on the injury report as of Sep 20. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

Sam LaPorta Stats This Season · 1 games

Rec

Rec Yds

Rec TD

Targets

48.0

Yds/Gm

9.8

Fantasy PPG

Advanced Metrics EPA & Next Gen Stats

0.941

EPA / target

4.0 yd

Avg separation

5.6 yd

Avg cushion

0.0

YAC over exp

62.5%

Catch %

Draft & College

Round 2, pick 34 · Detroit Lions · 2023

Iowa (Big Ten)

Taken

#34

where he actually went

Consensus board

48th

average of the public big boards that spring

Our college model

#62

among TE in our college data

He went earlier than consensus.

In college · 2019-2022 · 39 games

152 rec, 1,841 yds, 5 TD, 12.1 yds/rec

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

Comps

College career

his college career vs theirs

Ja'Tavion Sanders71%David Morgan II71%Tanner Koziol71%

STM Take

LaPorta at STTM #4 tier 1 in 2025 closes a three-year stretch ranking tier 1 in two of three seasons. The 9 games played in 2025 (vs. 17 from McBride) means the per-game profile is what carries the rank. Detroit's tier-1 offense (Goff QB1, Gibbs RB1, St. Brown WR1, Williams WR1) keeps him as a target option but never the primary read.

LaPorta was born in Highland, Illinois, played at Iowa where he won 2022 Big Ten Tight End of the Year, and Detroit took him 34th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. He earned second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors as a rookie in 2023, and holds the NFL record for postseason receiving yards by a rookie tight end (176).

Strengths

Rookie year second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl plus the NFL postseason rookie TE record (176 yards); the ceiling is established.
Two of three career years at tier 1 at age 25; the trajectory is locked among the position's elite tier.

Concerns

Only 9 games played in 2025; the durability is now a real question.
Detroit's deep target tree means he is the 4th or 5th read; the per-game ceiling lives in red zone usage.

What to watch: Games played in 2026; the per-game rate is tier-1 when healthy, but the Lions have many mouths to feed.