If you are one of the fantasy football owners who have Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta, chances are you took him early in your draft. And, most certainly, you're extremely disappointed with his start to the season.
LaPorta was fairly quiet in Week 1, reeling in just four catches for 45 yards, but he was even more quiet in Week 2, with just two catches for 13 scoreless yards. After two games, LaPorta ranks as TE16 overall, according to Fantasy Pros, which is a far cry from the TE1 ranking the Lions tight end achieved as a rookie in 2023.
Safe to say, fantasy managers have not gotten the return on their investment that they were expecting, which begs the question: Is it time to panic?
Sam LaPorta fantasy football outlook
The biggest issue for LaPorta's target share has been the emergence of wide receiver Jameson Williams, who looks primed for a breakout campaign.
Williams is actually second in targets on the team behind only fellow wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who needed an astounding 19 in Week 2 to get there. LaPorta ranks fourth in targets, as he's also behind running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
"It's great that we have a really creative offensive coordinator and the offensive coaching staff in general, so I know they're going to find ways to spread the ball around," LaPorta said. "Some games, targets might find you. Sometimes, they may not. If I can help contribute with a couple of catches, it's great. If not and we still win, that's awesome."
Williams' emergence remains a concern, but it's fair to assume that defenses are going to start focusing a lot more attention on him moving forward.
And, with that increased attention, along with the focus defenses already have on St. Brown, that is going to allow for plenty of favorable one-on-one matchups for the young tight end.
Another issue has been the uneven play of quarterback Jared Goff, who is not off to a good start to the season. But there's enough history with Goff in Detroit to believe he'll be just fine.
The production is going to come — LaPorta is simply too good for it not to — it just might take some time. Keep running him out there in your lineups and don't think twice about it. And certainly don't let anyone buy him low from you in a trade, because there will be someone who tries.
