Latest news with #LaPorta
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fantasy Football: 2025 rookie TEs facing burden of unrealistic expectations after historic Sam LaPorta, Brock Bowers opening acts
With the NFL Draft still fresh in our minds but with a chance to further digest the results, I thought it was a good time to dig into Pro Football Reference and see just how well the key positions have performed as rookies in the fantasy era. The series starts with tight ends, but we'll also be covering the QBs, RBs and WRs. For years, the rule of thumb was good to us. Ignore rookie tight ends; the position is too complicated. The players need development time. We'll revisit these guys in a few years, after they've been around the track a little bit. And then Sam LaPorta landed in 2023 with a 86-889-10 line, finishing TE1. And then Brock Bowers detonated in 2024, another TE1 score en route to setting new rookie marks for catches and yards by a tight end. Rookies on a rampage. What the heck's going on out here? To be fair, both LaPorta (a second-round selection) and Bowers (the 13th overall pick in last year's draft) came into the league with glittering comps. LaPorta was linked to George Kittle, two hits from the Iowa tight end factory. Bowers was comped to Travis Kelce, another star headed to the Hall of Fame. You can't do much better than that. Rookie tight ends are important to consider this season because two of them were taken in the first round. The Bears tabbed Colston Loveland out of Michigan with the 10th overall pick, and Tyler Warren of Penn State went to the Colts four selections later. And with LaPorta and Bowers dancing in our heads, we have to at least consider what upside Loveland and Warren might offer in their debut seasons If you're playing the comp game, Loveland links with Trey McBride, while Warren tracks to Jason Witten. Maybe that's a half-step from Kittle and Kelce, but that's not bad. I think it's important to revisit just how underwhelming rookie tight ends tended to be before the 2023 season, when LaPorta dropped. Let's open the history books, focusing on the Fantasy Era, from 2000 to today. (And let's be transparent, we explored this last year, when the final conclusion was a fade of Bowers. Not good. Not fun.) — Before Loveland, five tight ends had been drafted with top-10 picks over this period. Kyle Pitts had a quirky 2021 rookie campaign, with 1,026 yards but just one touchdown. He graded as the TE7 in half-point per reception scoring that season; he's been the TE33, TE14 and TE15 since. Largely a pain in the neck. — Kellen Winslow II was the sixth pick in 2004 and got hurt. He played in just two games that season. — Vernon Davis was hyped as the No. 6 pick out of Maryland in 2006. He missed six games as a rookie and didn't do much in the time he was healthy (20-265-3). Davis eventually became a good player, charting four times at TE8 or better (and he was the No. 1 TE in 2009). — T.J. Hockenson (eighth pick, 2019) is part of the Iowa tight end legacy. His first year was underwhelming: 32-367-2. He missed four games. — Eric Ebron (10th pick, 2014) never met a pass he didn't want to drop. He gave the Lions 13 mediocre games in his first year (25-248-1). It's no wonder the fantasy ethos became "ignore rookie tight ends" around this period. There are a few occasional hits if we look at other first-round tight ends (there were 27 picks in all). Evan Engram's 2017 debut grades out best among the first-round rookies in our target area: a 64-722-6 haul over 15 games. He edges past Pitts in standard scoring; Pitts is slightly ahead on half PPR. Engram was TE5 that year. This season, he's looking to reinvent himself on the Broncos. Touchdown deodorant (six scores each) coaxed a TE11 season from Heath Miller and a TE17 season from O.J. Howard. Jeremy Shockey and Dalton Kincaid both made it past 70 receptions. Noah Fant and Dustin Keller were the only other first-round tight ends who made it past 500 yards receiving. The second-round survey opens us up to some exciting seasons. LaPorta, of course, was the 34th pick in the 2023 draft. Rob Gronkowski had 10 touchdowns as a rookie; Pat Freiermuth had seven. John Carlson checked in with a solid 50-627-5 season. The later rounds include plenty of players who went on to become stars, though most of their debut seasons were tame. Aaron Hernandez had six touchdowns as a rookie. Mark Andrews, Chris Cooley, Jimmy Graham, George Kittle and Jordan Reed showed future potential. I suppose we also have to mention Captain Asterisk, Marques Colston. The Saints took him in the seventh round of the 2006 draft, the 252nd pick overall. His 70-1,038-8 season was a monster, and it was especially fun in Yahoo formats where he was tight end eligible. If you rostered Colston as a wideout, you enjoyed the WR14 season. If you could slide Colston to tight end, you had the top-scoring player at the position. Not bad for someone who was largely undrafted in fantasy leagues. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] I'm probably going to fade Loveland and Warren this season. Maybe this means I didn't learn my lesson from LaPorta and Bowers, but I tend to take these things on a case-by-case basis. I also have to consider that while LaPorta and Bowers happened, the majority of tight end research would point you away from rookies. Loveland does have a similar drop-off point to LaPorta. Ben Johnson is calling the plays, and Loveland walks into a pass-catcher room that has lots of talent. But Caleb Williams is still an unknown; he's certainly not as safe as Jared Goff — and the Bears play outside, compared to the indoor comforts of Detroit. Chicago also has a solid holdover tight end in Cole Kmet — while the Bears wouldn't draft Loveland so early if they didn't have big plans for him, there's a lot of crowding on this offense. Loveland's early global ADP has him around the TE18, which is modest. Yahoo consensus rankings have him slightly higher, TE15, but he's not one of my targets — not for 2025 anyway. If you're pining for Warren, you likely use Bowers as your NFL comp. After all, Bowers stepped into a dysfunctional Las Vegas offense and produced in spite of spotty QB play around him. Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell, it didn't matter. So if Bowers could overcome that setup, maybe Warren can make it work with scattershot Anthony Richardson and erratic Daniel Jones. But the depth of the Indianapolis WR room could get in Warren's way. Bowers merely had to share with Jakobi Meyers after an early-season trade of Davante Adams. The Colts have Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Alec Pierce and Adonai Mitchell competing for downfield work. [2025 Fantasy Draft Rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kickers] Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen is probably coaching for his job. He has every incentive to onboard Warren quickly and use him creatively — something the Nittany Lions were able to do. Your final Warren conclusion might rest with how redeemable you view Richardson or Jones. If they can't play to a capable level, every pass-catcher in Naptown is running uphill. Warren has been coveted in the early draft markets, the TE11 — he's the TE20 in Yahoo consensus ranks. That makes it easier for me to fade him. I'm intrigued by Tucker Kraft a round later or Pat Freiermuth about three rounds later.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fantasy Football: 2025 rookie TEs facing burden of unrealistic expectations after historic Sam LaPorta, Brock Bowers opening acts
With the NFL Draft still fresh in our minds but with a chance to further digest the results, I thought it was a good time to dig into Pro Football Reference and see just how well the key positions have performed as rookies in the fantasy era. The series starts with tight ends, but we'll also be covering the QBs, RBs and WRs. LaPorta and Bowers change rookie TE narrative For years, the rule of thumb was good to us. Ignore rookie tight ends. The position is too complicated. The players need development time. We'll revisit these guys in a few years, after they've been around the track a little bit. Advertisement And then Sam LaPorta landed in 2023 with a 86-889-10 line, finishing TE1. And then Brock Bowers detonated in 2024, another TE1 score en route to setting new rookie marks for catches and yards by a tight end. Rookies on a rampage. What the heck's going on out here? To be fair, both LaPorta (a second-round selection) and Bowers (the 13th overall pick in last year's draft) came into the league with glittering comps. LaPorta was linked to George Kittle, two hits from the Iowa tight end factory. Bowers was comped to Travis Kelce, another star headed to the Hall of Fame. You can't do much better than that. Advertisement Rookie tight ends are important to consider this season because two of them were taken in the first round. The Bears tabbed Colston Loveland out of Michigan with the 10th overall pick, and Tyler Warren of Penn State went to the Colts four selections later. And with LaPorta and Bowers dancing in our heads, we have to at least consider what upside Loveland and Warren might offer in their debut seasons If you're playing the comp game, Loveland links with Trey McBride, while Warren tracks to Jason Witten. Maybe that's a half-step from Kittle and Kelce, but that's not bad. History has far more rookie TE misses than hits I think it's important to revisit just how underwhelming rookie tight ends tended to be before the 2023 season, when LaPorta dropped. Let's open the history books, focusing on the Fantasy Era, from 2000 to today. (And let's be transparent, we explored this last year, when the final conclusion was a fade of Bowers. Not good. Not fun.) Advertisement — Before Loveland, five tight ends had been drafted with top-10 picks over this period. Kyle Pitts had a quirky 2021 rookie campaign, with 1,026 yards but just one touchdown. He graded as the TE7 in half-point per reception scoring that season; he's been the TE33, TE14 and TE15 since. Largely a pain in the neck. — Kellen Winslow II was the sixth pick in 2004 and got hurt. He played in just two games that season. — Vernon Davis was hyped as the No. 6 pick out of Maryland in 2006. He missed six games as a rookie and didn't do much in the time he was healthy (20-265-3). Davis eventually became a good player, charting four times at TE8 or better (and he was the No. 1 TE in 2009). — T.J. Hockenson (eighth pick, 2019) is part of the Iowa tight end legacy. His first year was underwhelming: 32-367-2. He missed four games. Advertisement — Eric Ebron (10th pick, 2014) never met a pass he didn't want to drop. He gave the Lions 13 mediocre games in his first year (25-248-1). It's no wonder the fantasy ethos became "ignore rookie tight ends" around this period. There are a few occasional hits if we look at other first-round tight ends (there were 27 picks in all). Evan Engram's 2017 debut grades out best among the first-round rookies in our target area: a 64-722-6 haul over 15 games. He edges past Pitts in standard scoring; Pitts is slightly ahead on half PPR. Engram was TE5 that year. This season, he's looking to reinvent himself on the Broncos. Touchdown deodorant (six scores each) coaxed a TE11 season from Heath Miller and a TE17 season from O.J. Howard. Jeremy Shockey and Dalton Kincaid both made it past 70 receptions. Noah Fant and Dustin Keller were the only other first-round tight ends who made it past 500 yards receiving. Advertisement The second-round survey opens us up to some exciting seasons. LaPorta, of course, was the 34th pick in the 2023 draft. Rob Gronkowski had 10 touchdowns as a rookie; Pat Freiermuth had seven. John Carlson checked in with a solid 50-627-5 season. The later rounds include plenty of players who went on to become stars, though most of their debut seasons were tame. Aaron Hernandez had six touchdowns as a rookie. Mark Andrews, Chris Cooley, Jimmy Graham, George Kittle and Jordan Reed showed future potential. I suppose we also have to mention Captain Asterisk, Marques Colston. The Saints took him in the seventh round of the 2006 draft, the 252nd pick overall. His 70-1,038-8 season was a monster, and it was especially fun in Yahoo formats where he was tight end eligible. If you rostered Colston as a wideout, you enjoyed the WR14 season. If you could slide Colston to tight end, you had the top-scoring player at the position. Not bad for someone who was largely undrafted in fantasy leagues. Advertisement [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Loveland and Warren unlikely to continue rookie TE surge I'm probably going to fade Loveland and Warren this season. Maybe this means I didn't learn my lesson from LaPorta and Bowers, but I tend to take these things on a case-by-case basis. I also have to consider that while LaPorta and Bowers happened, the majority of tight end research would point you away from rookies. Loveland's situation different than LaPorta's Loveland does have a similar drop-off point to LaPorta. Ben Johnson is calling the plays, and Loveland walks into a pass-catcher room that has lots of talent. But Caleb Williams is still an unknown — he's certainly not as safe as Jared Goff — and the Bears play outside, compared to the indoor comforts of Detroit. Chicago also has a solid holdover tight end in Cole Kmet — while the Bears wouldn't draft Loveland so early if they didn't have big plans for him, there's a lot of crowding on this offense. Advertisement Loveland's early global ADP has him around the TE18, which is modest. Yahoo consensus rankings have him slightly higher, TE15, but he's not one of my targets, not for 2025 anyway. Warren's environment far from ideal If you're pining for Warren, you likely use Bowers as your NFL comp. After all, Bowers stepped into a dysfunctional Las Vegas offense and produced in spite of spotty QB play around him. Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell, it didn't matter. So if Bowers could overcome that setup, maybe Warren can make it work with scattershot Anthony Richardson and erratic Daniel Jones. Advertisement But the depth of the Indianapolis WR room could get in Warren's way. Bowers merely had to share with Jakobi Meyers after an early-season trade of Davante Adams. The Colts have Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Alec Pierce and Adonai Mitchell competing for downfield work. [2025 Fantasy Draft Rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kickers] Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen is probably coaching for his job. He has every incentive to onboard Warren quickly and use him creatively — something the Nittany Lions were able to do. Your final Warren conclusion might rest with how redeemable you view Richardson or Jones. If they can't play to a capable level, every pass-catcher in Naptown is running uphill. Warren has been coveted in the early draft markets, the TE11 — he's the TE20 in Yahoo consensus ranks. That makes it easier for me to fade him. I'm intrigued by Tucker Kraft a round later or Pat Freiermuth about three rounds later.
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Sam LaPorta talks about the Lions unfinished business, wanting the ball, blocking and more
Sam LaPorta talks about the Lions unfinished business, wanting the ball, blocking and more Lions tight end Sam LaPorta met with the media on Thursday after the morning OTA session. The moustachioed LaPorta eruditely fielded several questions and gave some nice insight on a few Detroit topics. A summary of the tight end's interactions. New offensive coaches The Lions have a new offensive coordinator in John Morton, as well as a new tight ends coach in Tyler Roehl and passing game coordinator David Shaw. So far, so good as far as LaPorta sees things. "There is some new faces. You get that every year in the NFL," LaPorta said. "You adapt, you overcome." The third-year vet continued, "With the new coaches, it's been great so far. Learning some new stuff, but some stuff has stayed the same. Building those relationships, continuing to do the work. It's football. It's an ever-changing, evolutionary game." Unfinished business "Every year we fell like there is unfinished business," LaPorta said when asked about how Detroit's season ended earlier than hoped in the playoffs. "We know that we have the players to go out and win games, and the biggest ones as well." LaPorta didn't shy away from the pressure, which is a common theme among the players and coaches in Detroit throughout this offseason. Continuity with Brock Wright LaPorta is entering his third year in Detroit, and No. 2 TE Brock Wright has been with him the whole time. The two are very good together, and the continuity and communication between the duo is important to Detroit's offense. "In terms of communication it's getting to the point where a lot of things don't need to be said between Brock and I," LaPorta stated. "We're out there and we know what we both need, we know what's going on. We kind of just look at each other and (smiles) give each other the agreeance look, like--this is how we're going to work this set." Clean bill of health LaPorta happily admitted that he had an offseason free of surgery or recovery from serious injuries. He played through a minor shoulder injury midway through the 2024 season, sitting out the Week 11 blowout win over the Jaguars. "This season I came out pretty healthy," LaPorta said. "It was great. I got to take some time off and let my body relax for the first time since basically fall camp of my senior year at Iowa." Room for personal growth LaPorta is still known primarily as a receiving specialist around the league, but he's efforting hard to change that. "I was very pleased with how my run game, run blocking, came along in Year 2 ... I was very pleased with how I blocked in the run game. Looking ahead to this year, just keep polishing things." On wanting the ball more LaPorta's production went down from his record-setting rookie campaign. His receptions dropped from 86 to 60, and the yardage fell from 889 to 726, scoring just seven TDs to 10 in his fantastic debut season. It's safe to say LaPorta isn't fazed by the lesser numbers. "There was a lot of weapons last year. I kept hearing comments about 'why didn't you get the ball as much?' and I'm like, 'dude, we scored the most points out of any team in the NFL in the last five years.' Everybody deserves the ball."
USA Today
28-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lions TE Sam LaPorta sounds off on Ben Johnson's departure for Bears
Lions TE Sam LaPorta sounds off on Ben Johnson's departure for Bears Ben Johnson has been a major headline this offseason, after departing his role as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator and becoming the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Johnson's departure from the top-seeded Lions has raised the intensity in the Chicago-Detroit rivalry. Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has not been shy in voicing his opinion about the Bears this offseason, and now his teammate Sam LaPorta is joining him. LaPorta, a second round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, worked with Johnson for his first two years in the league, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors as a rookie. LaPorta recently spoke with Kay Adams and discussed his former offensive coordinator, saying he's happy for Johnson, but friends have turned into enemies. "Of course I'm happy for Ben, he was one of the big reasons that they brought me into the Lions, nothing but respect for him," LaPorta said. "On Sunday afternoons this fall, there will be friends turned enemies. It hurts, of course. You spend a lot of time with these people, invest a lot of energy, effort and hard work together. You're excited he's going to run his own team, it's very exciting times for him, but it's very exciting times for us too as well as we turn to our new coaching staff." Chicago's rivalry with Detroit has gotten a bit more interesting going into next season. The Bears are hopeful that Johnson brings that same offensive success he had in Detroit to Chicago. If Johnson can turn this Bears squad into a contender, it'll be quite the divisional battle to watch in the coming years.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lions TE Sam LaPorta on Ben Johnson leaving for Bears: 'It hurts'
Sam LaPorta is going through a breakup. Now he has to watch his ex-offensive coordinator live life with a bitter rival. The Detroit Lions drafted the tight end in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft partly because of then-offensive coordinator Ben Johnson's impact. Johnson is now set to call the Windy City home in 2025 after being hired as the head coach of the NFC North rival Chicago Bears. During an appearance on the "Up & Adams" show on Wednesday at the NFLPA Classic golf tournament in Mexico, LaPorta spoke with Kay Adams about his feelings surrounding the move, joking that Johnson will be a friend-turned-enemy. Advertisement "Of course, happy for Ben," LaPorta said. "He was one of the big reasons they brought me into the Lions. Nothing but respect for him, but again, on Sunday afternoons this fall, there will be friends turned to enemies." NFL MOCK DRAFT: AI predicts the entire first round The tight end added that the move hurt, but ultimately he is happy for his former coach. "It hurts, of course," LaPorta said. "You spend a lot of time with these people, invest a lot of energy and effort and hard work together. You know it's mutual, you're excited that he's gonna run his own team and organization and have a lot on his plate. So, just very exciting times for him, and it is exciting times for us too as we turn towards our new staff and have a bright future as well." Advertisement While the attention is focused on what the Lions lost, not much has been paid to the guy set to take over, John Morton. He spent the 2022 season with Detroit as a senior offensive assistant, but LaPorta didn't arrive until after the coach's departure. The tight end hasn't spoken to Morton at length but is eager to see how he operates when OTAs begin. "I've sat down with Johnny Mo for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, gotten to know him personally," LaPorta said. "But as a coach, it's yet to be determined. We have a great future in front of us, we're excited to work with each other, and I can't wait to get working with him here in OTAs here shortly." Johnson is set to find out if the grass is greener on the other side. LaPorta and the Lions will soon learn if Johnson is the one who got away. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sam LaPorta comments on Ben Johnson leaving for Bears HC job
