Sam LaPorta — TE · DET | FantasyHack.ai

AI outlook

Starting TE1 for DET, featured role likely under new OC Drew Petzing (Cardinals-style TE-centric scheme), tempered by real back-injury recurrence risk and load management.

Pros

Petzing has a track record of building the passing game around a featured TE (McBride, 126 catches in 2025)
Fully cleared for camp as of early Aug 2026, ahead of earlier back-surgery timelines
Efficient converter: 81.6% catch rate, career-high 12.2 YPC in 2025
Clear TE1 on depth chart, no camp competition of note

Cons

Herniated disc/back surgery (Nov 2025) carries real recurrence risk; likely reduced blocking/snap share
Only 9 games played in 2025 (45 tgt, 19% share, 3 TD) -- small, compromised sample
Crowded target competition (Amon-Ra St. Brown, emerging Jameson Williams)
New OC and O-line transition (Sewell to LT, new C/RT) add scheme/protection uncertainty

Why our rank differs from ADP

disagree higher

We are higher on LaPorta than the market -- new OC Drew Petzing built his Arizona offense around the tight end.

Full breakdown +

We rank LaPorta 66th overall (PPR) against a consensus ADP of 109. Petzing's Cardinals scheme funneled elite volume to Trey McBride (126 catches in 2025), and LaPorta is the clear TE1 with no camp competition. The back-surgery recurrence risk is real and already in our projection -- the featured-role upside is not in his ADP.

Our model

Market ADP?	97
Blended rank?	91
Consensus rank?	94
Tier?	Tier 5
VBD score?	11.8

Risk profile

Coming soon — we're rebuilding this rating from scratch to make it more accurate.

Projected PPG

Standard	6.7
Half-PPR	8.6
Full PPR	10.4

Confidence tier

Low