LaPorta began the year as a ghost, catching more than two passes in two of his first six games. He suffered a low-ankle sprain early in the year and an AC joint injury in Week 11. The combo of injuries had a noticeable impact on his play and his involvement in the offense. LaPorta surpassed 54 yards once over the first 14 weeks of the season. The young tight end started to find his footing late in the year and topped that mark in four of his final games, including his first 100-yard outing of the season which came in a Week 15 shootout with Buffalo. Every part of his 60/726/7 receiving line presented a downturn from his rookie campaign. LaPorta is still a strong fantasy option based on his weekly upside and touchdown potential, but the Lions simply have too many talented pass-catchers to make him an every-week feature of the passing game. He will fall into the second tier of tight ends when early fantasy drafts roll around.

LaPorta continued his recent stretch of increased involvement through the air after a relatively slow start to the season, by his lofty standards. Both teams struggled to move the football with any consistency in the first half, but the Lions surged after the break on the backs of three second half touchdowns from running back Jahmyr Gibbs. The commanding victory held quarterback Jared Goff to just 33 pass attempts, which kept LaPorta, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jameson Williams all at seven or eight targets on the evening. The win clinches the No. 1 seed, the only playoff bye, and home field advantage for the Lions as they prepare for the Super Bowl journey.

LaPorta caught the second of three touchdown passes from quarterback Jared Goff as the Lions kept momentum heading into their conference-deciding home matchup with the division rival Vikings in Week 18. The touchdown pushes his season total to seven, all of which have come in the previous 11 games. Expect LaPorta to remain busy against the pass-funnel Vikings next week.

There’s nothing offensive coordinator Ben Johnson loves more than a trick play touchdown for Sam LaPorta, and he was in his bag today. Jared Goff pretended to bungle the snap and stumbled to the ground before gathering himself and uncorking a deep shot to LaPorta in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Although the bulk of his fantasy production came on this play, LaPorta was heavily involved in the game plan throughout the contest, earning his second-highest target total of the year. The second-year tight end has seen six or more targets in seven of his past eight games. Now fully out of his slump, LaPorta is firmly in the TE1 ranks for Week 17.