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Maybe the difference between being the No. 2 seed and the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs is not worth losing your starting tight end and breakout offensive star?
Detroit Lions rookie phenom Sam LaPorta would be a top contender for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award if Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua did not have such fantastic first seasons. LaPorta was the top tight end in many fantasy formats thanks to his position-high 10 touchdowns and the 86 receptions for 889 yards he accumulated over the course of his stellar rookie campaign.
The end of LaPorta’s magical season was almost as tragic as the ending of The Empire Strikes Back, however. LaPorta injured his knee in Detroit’s Week 18 win over the Minnesota Vikings, and his status for his team’s Wild Card round playoff game is in serious jeopardy. So will LaPorta will be able to suit up Sunday night and help fantasy managers playing in playoff leagues and DFS contests? Here is the latest:
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Is Sam LaPorta Injured or Healthy?
LaPorta is far from healthy. He suffered a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise in the game against the Vikings. Detroit head honcho Dan Campbell said LaPorta currently has an outside chance of playing this weekend in Detroit’s playoff tilt against the Los Angeles Rams, but even if he does don a helmet and guts it out it sounds like he will be nowhere near 100 percent when he steps onto Ford Field.
LaPorta went through the regular season unscathed by injury except in the final game, so there is no way of knowing how he bounces back from injuries since there is no sample size to draw from. The bottom line is that this will be a story fantasy managers will have to key on throughout the week leading into Sunday night’s Rams-Lions marquee matchup.
If LaPorta does not play on Sunday, the fantasy stock of backup tight end Brock Wright, whose 13 catches for 91 yards and a TD on the season was not exactly LaPorta-like. Wright did catch four touchdown tosses in 2022, however, so if pressed into duty he would be worthy of a low-price flyer in fantasy playoff leagues and contests. Jared Goff loves throwing to his tight ends, no matter who they are or how talented they are.
If LaPorta does play, his fantasy value has to be taken down a notch by his knee injury. It would hard to believe he would be able to be raring to go on all cylinders in a week’s time after such a scary injury. His fantasy stock would be higher than other middle-of-the-road tight ends in the playoffs such as Los Angeles’ Tyler Higbee and Tampa Bay’s Cade Otton, but he would have to be rated below upper-echelon players at the position like Kansas City’s Travis Kelce.
Monitor the situation every day and see where LaPorta is at before making a final decision on whether to have him as your tight end in whatever fantasy playoff contest/league you participate in. And check RotoBaller for the latest status updates on him!
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