FMIA--LaPorta getting some well-deserved recognition this week

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Offensive players of the week

Jordan Love, quarterback, Green Bay. Outdueled Patrick Mahomes in the latter’s first game ever at Lambeau, even though he took a bad, bad sack on the last offensive play from scrimmage for Green Bay. Love completed 25 of 26 for 267 yards, with three touchdowns and no picks.

Tyreek Hill, wide receiver, Miami. The unstoppable one buttressed his MVP case in Washington with 78- and 60-yard touchdown catches from Tua Tagovailoa, his biggest grabs in a five-reception, 157-yard day at the moribund Commanders. When Calvin Johnson set the single-season receiving yardage record with 1,964 in 2012, he averaged 122.8 yards a game. Hill, with 1,481 yards and five games left, is averaging 123.4.

Nico Collins, wide receiver, Houston. The Texans needed the game of Collins’ pro career—nine catches, 191 yards, 1 TD—and they’ll need Collins to come up consistently big the rest of the season, now that rookie sensation Tank Dell’s been lost for the year with a fractured fibula.

Sam LaPorta, tight end, Detroit. The Lions picked LaPorta 34th overall last April out of Tight End U (Iowa), and he had his best day of a starry rookie year in the 33-28 win at New Orleans. Nine catches, 140 yards and a touchdown. A biggie was his 48-yard catch leading to an important second-half field goal when the Saints were gaining on the Lions.

And a reminder about draft grades:

Overall grade: F

Yeah, an F. Perhaps this take will get Old Takes Exposed in two or three years as a laughably bad take, but as things stand right now the Lions’ draft class was just baffling. Taking Gibbs with the 12th pick in a year that they signed David Montgomery felt extremely rich. Even taking Sam LaPorta with the 34th overall pick over Michael Mayer was a head-scratcher. Gibbs and Campbell made up the most shocking first round picks in quite some time, and not in a positive way. Hopefully for Lions fans, this take ends up wrong. To put it nicely, they had an unorthodox strategy in the 2023 NFL Draft.

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I’m looking forward to seeing the pff grades. As little as I respect them, I have found their grades are matching the eye test for the most part. Campbell looked aggressive, decisive, physical and where he needed to be.

JRM is the man. Can’t ever let him get away again. In years past he’d be our starter.

But coming back to LaPorta and your draft link…

Gibbs, Campbell, LaPorta, Branch all coming up big in December. This is the kind of draft you dream of.

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2023 could be the Lions version of the 1986 49ers draft:

San Francisco’s 1986 draft was one of the best any team ever had. From the college ranks Walsh and his staff selected five players who became starters: fullback Tom Rathman and wide receiver John Taylor, who had 133 catches between them in 1989; Kevin Fagan, the 49ers’ best defensive end; Charles Haley, their best linebacker; and Don Griffin, their best cornerback. They also chose three sterling subs: cornerback Tim McKyer, tackle Steve Wallace and defensive end Larry Roberts.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1990/04/23/the-genius-at-work-bill-walsh-built-the-san-francisco-49ers-through-brilliant-trading-and-drafting-and-the-1986-draft-was-his-masterpiece

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A blurb from theAthletic article on LaPorta this am

Clutch, productive, reliable — after the game, LaPorta’s teammates had a hard time characterizing the season he’s putting together, so perhaps the numbers will help. LaPorta is the sixth rookie tight end in NFL history to record a game with 140 yards or more and a touchdown, and the first since Pete Mitchell in 1995. His seven games with five or more receptions are tied for the second-most by a rookie tight end in NFL history. Only six players in NFL history have logged at least 60 receptions, 675 yards and six touchdowns through their first 12 games. The other five are wide receivers.

Most notably, LaPorta is on pace for 91 receptions, 962 yards and nine touchdowns. If he reaches those numbers, it would be the most receptions by a rookie tight end, the third-most receiving yards by a rookie tight end and would tie him for the third-most receiving touchdowns by a rookie tight end in league history.

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Now the Athletic trolling the Den for material? What’s the world coming to? :wink:

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LaPorta is getting all the attention.
St. Brown just went over 1,000 yards for the second season in a row, and broke Megatron’s record for most yards in his first 3 seasons.
I’ve yet to see a thread, and I’m the only one mentioning it.

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it was mentioned somewhere, may have been a thread about it…

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