That was a nice debut game for Sam LaPorta. He had 5 passes thrown his way, and he caught all of them. Only one rookie tight end in the last 20 years has done that in his first game. Only three have opened by catching even more passes.
Typically, tight ends tend to start slowly. Since the move to 32 teams, only 13 other tight ends have caught 4-plus passes in their first games. None of these catches were super eye-catching; they were shorter, simple catches (for only 39 total yards). But in general, LaPorta looks like he’s going to be a good tight end for a lot of years.
| ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS WITH 3 CATCHES IN FIRST GAME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opp | Result | Tgt | No | Yds | TD |
| 2019 | T.J. Hockenson, Det. | at Ari. | T 27-27 | 9 | 6 | 131 | 1 |
| 2012 | Coby Fleener, Ind. | at Chi. | L 21-41 | 10 | 6 | 82 | 0 |
| 2010 | Jermaine Gresham, Cin. | at N.E. | L 24-38 | 10 | 6 | 25 | 1 |
| 2023 | Sam LaPorta, Det. | at K.C. | W 21-20 | 5 | 5 | 39 | 0 |
| 2017 | George Kittle, S.F. | Car. | L 3-23 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 0 |
| 2013 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | at Chi. | L 21-24 | 5 | 5 | 47 | 0 |
| 2013 | Jordan Reed, Was. | Phil. | L 27-33 | 6 | 5 | 38 | 0 |
| 2006 | Vernon Davis, S.F. | at Ari. | L 27-34 | 8 | 5 | 37 | 1 |
| 2021 | Kyle Pitts, Atl. | Phil. | L 6-32 | 8 | 4 | 31 | 0 |
| 2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | at Dall. | L 3-19 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 0 |
| 2008 | John Carlson, Sea. | at Buff. | L 10-34 | 4 | 4 | 52 | 0 |
| 2005 | Alex Smith, T.B. | at Min. | W 24-13 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 2 |
| 2004 | Kellen Winslow, Cle. | Balt. | W 20-3 | 6 | 4 | 39 | 0 |
| 2002 | Randy McMichael, Mia. | Det. | W 49-21 | 5 | 4 | 73 | 1 |
| 2018 | Will Dissly, Sea. | at Den. | L 24-27 | 5 | 3 | 105 | 1 |
| 2018 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | Buff. | W 47-3 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 0 |
| 2016 | Stephen Anderson, Hou. | Chi. | W 23-14 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 0 |
| 2013 | Joseph Fauria, Det. | Min. | W 34-24 | 3 | 3 | 27 | 1 |
| 2010 | Tony Moeaki, K.C. | S.D. | W 21-14 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 1 |
| 2007 | Zach Miller, Oak. | Det. | L 21-36 | 6 | 3 | 23 | 0 |
| 2002 | Jeremy Shockey, NYG | S.F. | L 13-16 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 0 |
| 2002 | Jerramy Stevens, Sea. | at Oak. | L 17-31 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 0 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
In the measuring of the rookie tight ends, I think there are three notable ones, and for now, I like LaPorta more than Dalton Kincaid and Luke Musgrave. (Michael Mayer, I think, is a notch back from those guys; and Luke Schoonmaker looks more like a down-the-road guy, stuck behind Jake Ferguson for now.)
The Thursday night game also featured another notable tight end. Travis Kelce was sidelined by a knee injury, but he’s put up some of the best-ever numbers at the position. With Kelce turning 34 in October, I think it’s fair to compare these tight ends in a long-term sense.
In a dynasty league, would you rather have an end-of-his-career Kelce (who’ll probably be the most productive tight end this year and could have multiple other great seasons)? Or would you rather have one of these up-and-comers, who are just starting off the careers?
I think the answer is still Kelce. There is always a steady supply of good players flowing in at the position, with a couple new possible top 10 tight ends showing up every year. Musgrave, for example, wasn’t a coveted tight end in typical dynasty drafts (I think). But trying to latch onto that difference-maker guy who’ll be one of the top 2 at the position, that’s what we’re shooting for.
If Kelce is the No. 1 tight end this year and No. 2 next year, then walking away from the game, I would take that over the promise that LaPorta or Musgrave would rank between 6th and 10th at tight end in each of the next 10 years.
| DYNASTY TIGHT ENDS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Tm | Player | Age |
| 1. | BAL | Mark Andrews | 28.0 |
| 2. | KC | Travis Kelce | 33.9 |
| 3. | MIN | T.J. Hockenson | 26.2 |
| 4. | DET | • Sam LaPorta | 22.7 |
| 5. | ATL | Kyle Pitts | 22.9 |
| 6. | PIT | Pat Freiermuth | 24.9 |
| 7. | PHI | Dallas Goedert | 28.7 |
| 8. | JAC | Evan Engram | 29.0 |
| 9. | BUF | • Dalton Kincaid | 23.9 |
| 10. | SF | George Kittle | 29.9 |
| 11. | GB | • Luke Musgrave | 23.0 |
| 12. | NYG | Darren Waller | 31.0 |
| 13. | CHI | Cole Kmet | 24.5 |
| 14. | CLE | David Njoku | 27.2 |
| 15. | TEN | Chigoziem Okonkwo | 24.0 |
| 16. | DAL | Jake Ferguson | 24.6 |
| 17. | CIN | Irv Smith | 25.1 |
| 18. | NO | Juwan Johnson | 27.0 |
| 19. | BUF | Dawson Knox | 26.8 |
| 20. | LV | • Michael Mayer | 22.2 |
| 21. | NE | Hunter Henry | 28.8 |
| 22. | HOU | Dalton Schultz | 27.2 |
| 23. | LAC | Gerald Everett | 29.2 |
| 24. | CAR | Hayden Hurst | 30.0 |
| 25. | TB | Cade Otton | 24.4 |
| 26. | DEN | Greg Dulcich | 23.5 |
| 27. | IND | Jelani Woods | 24.9 |
| 28. | LAR | Tyler Higbee | 30.7 |
| 29. | ARI | Trey McBride | 23.8 |
| 30. | BAL | Isaiah Likely | 23.4 |
| 31. | SEA | Noah Fant | 25.8 |
| 32. | DAL | • Luke Schoonmaker | 24.9 |
| 33. | IND | Kylen Granson | 25.5 |
| 34. | NYJ | Tyler Conklin | 28.1 |
| 35. | WAS | Cole Turner | 23.5 |
| 36. | NE | Mike Gesicki | 27.9 |
| 37. | DEN | Adam Trautman | 26.6 |
| 38. | WAS | Logan Thomas | 32.2 |
| 39. | KC | Noah Gray | 24.4 |
| 40. | PIT | • Darnell Washington | 22.1 |
I turn my attention to dynasty leagues each Saturday during the regular season, rotating between the four notable positions. Rankings assume PPR scoring and assume teams would hold players indefinitely. In the list above, rookies tagged with black dots.
—Ian Allan
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