There have been some positive reports on Lions' second-round tight end Sam LaPorta. The team's website says he's been a "favorite target" for quarterbacks at OTAs. The second tight end drafted in April might very well have the most significant rookie impact.
The other two top 40 selections (Buffalo's Dalton Kincaid and Las Vegas' Michael Mayer) are also intriguing. Especially Kincaid, a first-round pick who will be working with Josh Allen; he could essentially be a big slot receiver in Buffalo's offense. Mayer goes to a Vegas team that traded away Darren Waller and lost Foster Moreau in free agency, but there are worrying signs with the Raiders, like who's going to play quarterback.
With the Lions, LaPorta will be working with a capable veteran quarterback in Jared Goff, and on a roster that might only have one standout wide receiver (Amon-Ra St. Brown). Jameson Williams is suspended the first six games, while Marvin Jones is 33. LaPorta could be the team's main pass catching tight end right away; after trading T.J. Hockenson last year, Detroit's top options at the position were James Mitchell, Shane Zylstra and Brock Wright, who worked in a committee and caught 9 TDs (but only 11-18 passes each).
It does not, however, look promising that LaPorta will immediately be inheriting all of those red-zone chances; the team could continue to target a variety of tight ends in that area. He wasn't a big part of the offense around the goal line at Iowa. LaPorta caught 138 passes the last three seasons -- but just 1, 3, and 1 touchdown in those years.
What I do like is that he's coming out of a program that's had a few quick NFL successes of late. In the last six years, Iowa has sent three other tight ends to the NFL, and all of those players have had multiple top-12 seasons.
Table shows tight ends drafted out of Iowa in the last 10 years, sorted by fantasy ranking (PPR). Collectively, there have been seven top-8 fantasy seasons, and seven more at least in the top 20 at the position. (Three just last year; those guys are in bold.) C.J. Fiedorowicz wasn't as successful as the others, but even he had a notable season in there.
| IOWA TIGHT ENDS IN THE NFL, DRAFTED 2013-PRESENT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rd | Year | Player | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | FF |
| 1 | 2022 | T.J. Hockenson, Min.-Det. | 129 | 86 | 914 | 6 | 2 |
| 1 | 2020 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 101 | 67 | 723 | 6 | 3 |
| 5 | 2022 | George Kittle, S.F. | 86 | 60 | 765 | 11 | 3 |
| 5 | 2019 | George Kittle, S.F. | 107 | 85 | 1053 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | 2018 | George Kittle, S.F. | 136 | 88 | 1377 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | 2021 | George Kittle, S.F. | 94 | 71 | 910 | 6 | 4 |
| 1 | 2020 | Noah Fant, Den. | 93 | 62 | 673 | 3 | 8 |
| 1 | 2021 | Noah Fant, Den. | 90 | 68 | 670 | 4 | 12 |
| 1 | 2019 | Noah Fant, Den. | 66 | 40 | 562 | 3 | 15 |
| 1 | 2021 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 84 | 61 | 583 | 4 | 15 |
| 1 | 2022 | Noah Fant, Sea. | 63 | 50 | 486 | 4 | 17 |
| 3 | 2016 | C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 89 | 54 | 559 | 4 | 17 |
| 5 | 2020 | George Kittle, S.F. | 63 | 48 | 634 | 2 | 19 |
| 5 | 2017 | George Kittle, S.F. | 63 | 43 | 515 | 2 | 19 |
| 1 | 2019 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | 59 | 32 | 367 | 2 | 31 |
| 3 | 2015 | C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 24 | 17 | 167 | 1 | 48 |
| 3 | 2017 | C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 22 | 14 | 127 | 0 | 65 |
| 3 | 2014 | C.J. Fiedorowicz, Hou. | 7 | 4 | 28 | 1 | 80 |
--Andy Richardson