Road to TE1: Sam LaPorta

There was no adjustment period needed for Sam LaPorta, as he was everything fantasy managers expected him to be in his rookie year with a TE1 finish in all league formats. With a historic season in his first impression in the league, the former second-round pick enters his second season already as the best tight end in fantasy football.

Though he was just fifth among all tight ends with 889 receiving yards and fourth with 86 receptions, LaPorta led the position with 10 touchdowns. The scoring edge proved to be the deciding factor in his overall TE1 finish with no other tight end recording more than six touchdowns on the year.

Within Detroit, LaPorta was second on the team in targets, receptions and receiving yards behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, who led the team in all receiving categories. Together, St. Brown and LaPorta accounted for 284 of the team's 574 total targets in 2023.

Even with his proven consistency, LaPorta's availability is proving to be arguably his best trait. Entering the 2024 season at 23 years old, LaPorta is significantly younger than most of his competition and is one of just four tight ends to finish in the top 10 to play in all 17 games.

How Sam LaPorta can retain his position as the TE1

With the Lions set to enter 2024 with most of the same pieces from the offense that made its way to the NFC Championship Game, LaPorta's biggest threat figures to be the potential breakout of Jameson Williams. Williams should not surpass LaPorta in the pecking order but figures to be primed for a third-year breakout after playing just 18 combined games through his first two seasons.

LaPorta figures to take a second-year leap himself but it is difficult to imagine him seeing more usage than he did in 2023. As a rookie, his targets were on par with the rest of the elite tight end field with the exception of Evan Engram's league-leading 143 looks.

Maintaining a high touchdown rate will be the key to LaPorta's fantasy value as his 10 touchdowns standout on paper but appear unlikely to repeat. Though seven of his 10 scores were in the red zone, LaPorta recorded just 15 total targets in that area of the field in 2023. That tally was good for fourth in the position but a far cry from Jake Ferguson's leading 24 targets.

However, while LaPorta saw fewer looks in the red zone than some other tight ends, his target percentage within the 20-yard line sticks out at a ridiculous 93.8 percent. He is clearly Jared Goff's top red zone option by a significant margin, suggesting a high work rate in scoring range.

While those numbers are encouraging, the Lions' explosive offense often led to chunk plays in 2023 that resulted in long-distance scores from outside of the red zone. Per StatMuse, Detroit was second in the league in plays of more than 20 yards in 2023, a statistic that only figures to rise with the roles of young, dynamic playmakers including Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs set to increase.

Regardless of which direction the Detroit offense plays out in 2024, LaPorta will be a major part of it. In a field ridden with inconsistency and injuries, LaPorta is a rare reliable weekly starter who has an opportunity to succeed Travis Kelce as the next long-reigning TE1. If there is a tight end managers should take in the first round of re-draft leagues, it will be the 23-year-old Iowa product.