I'm torn on Sam LaPorta. On the one hand, rookie tight ends seldom deliver right away. LaPorta barely played in the preseason (and when he did, he was dropping the only pass thrown his way). But on the other hand, camp report after camp report had him as Jared Goff's 2nd-favorite target after Amon-Ra St. Brown. That sounds pretty good.
I'm drafting in a TE-premium (FFPC) league tonight, and with a point and a half per tight end reception and two flex spots, I like to have at least two good receivers at the position. One of the years I won one of these leagues was with a very productive rookie, Evan Engram. Maybe LaPorta will be this year's version.
The other two top 40 selections (Buffalo's Dalton Kincaid and Las Vegas' Michael Mayer) are also intriguing. Kincaid 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 they haven't really received the beat writer buzz that LaPorta has (Kincaid, I think, will be selected too early).
LaPorta, in contrast with Kincaid (and Mayer, with the Raiders also having Austin Hooper), seems to be the only viable receiving tight end in Detroit. James Mitchell and Brock Wright are the team's only other players at the position, and they did very little last year after T.J. Hockenson was traded. Should be LaPorta as the main pass catcher for Jared Goff (among tight ends).
An additional plus 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 | Rec | TD | Rk |
| 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 |
We'll see if he ends up on my team after tonight. Definitely on my radar in this league.
--Andy Richardson