I don’t see it, though with the early TE run in the draft, I understand not addressing it. What do we have?
If Sam LaPorta gets through training camp, we’re good there. But after him? Brock Wright is steadily and reliably unimpressive. The Lions won’t cut him with their TE cupboard bare, but they would save $3M post June by cutting him. Justin Rogers wrote “Tyler Conklin is an accomplished contender for TE3.” Um-kay. Yet the Lions value him so much that they gave him a contract with zero guarantees. They did not show him the money.
Jackson Meeks may have crossover value at TE, as @Thats2 reminded me in a draft thread. Maybe TeSlaa too? Maybe Giovanni Manu can master reporting eligible (unlike Decker) and fill a TE-ish role as 6th OT? Maybe UDFA Miles Kitselman, who had a meh 2025 after balling out in 2024, if PFF is the judge? Or maybe Brad has his eyes on bargain basement FA leftovers at TE?. I’ll tell you what: Xanax would hit the spot right now.
Remember before we took LaPorta and after we traded Hockenson? I think we had Wright, Zylstra and that guy from Tennessee… And we won 8 of 9 games down the stretch.
LaPorta alone gives us a top 15 unit, and Wright is one of the better backups in the league (though I agree he’s mostly average). Conklin has had spike years better than any Wright has ever had, though last year was admittedly a struggle. Then there’s Meeks and Kitselman, no reason to get excited about them, but depth TEs pop all the time.
I really don’t think there’s much to be worried about. We probably won’t be playing as much 13 as everyone thought, but that’s fine. Our WRs are blocking badasses.
You can probably put together a short list of TEs active in the NFL that have 4 seasons of 50+ receptions or more. Conklin is on that list. He also has 69 (nice) career starts.
I don’t know why people keep downplaying additions like Conklin at TE or Clark (80 career starts at S). These are valuable depth guys. Whether or not they have guarantees in their contracts or not seems to be an odd way of judging whether or not they can produce or provide quality depth. (Also, who knows - Conklin IS from Michigan. Maybe he wanted to be here regardless of contract.) It just means they’re near the bottom of the depth chart - and that’s fine. If my #3 TE has 4 seasons of 50+ catches and my #5 TE (with Branch/Kerby healthy) has 80 career starts? Yeah, I’m fine. A lot of teams would die for that type of experience at the bottom end of the roster.
For me, and for a few others I’ve seen, the biggest concern with Conklin stems from just how bad he was last year. For Harbaugh to boot. Hopefully it was simply an outlier and there was a reason for that, but Chargers fans are not flattering about him. Of course before that I thought he was an NFL TE2 so perhaps that downtick in play is already baked into his career now that he’s settling for a TE3 spot.
I guess Chargers fans can feel whatever they want about him. I won’t pretend like I know how he was deployed. But it seems odd to have an unflattering, strong opinion about a guy who played a single season for you and saw 10 whole targets all year and was only on the field for 15% of the offensive snaps. Was his blocking poor? Like what are we really judging a guy on when he was hardly on the field and was the 4th used TE on the roster?
So far, what I found via an article from a Chargers ‘expert’ who stated why Conklin sucked and boiled it down to 4 plays: A fumble that didn’t cause a change of possession, a play where he didn’t turn around for a screen pass, a play where he accidentally picked McConkey, and a drop on 4th down. Meh. Rough crowd for a guy who was always the #2 behind Dissly and then a #3 after Gadsen got meaninful time.
Not saying Conklin is a world beater, but he’s more than suitable for a TE3 and possibly TE2 role if needed.
Obviously LaPorta being healthy is critically important.
But a 1 2 3 of LaPorta, Wright and Conklin is pretty solid. What teams in the nfl have a better top 3? Can’t be many. TeSlaa although not a tight end can be used like one at times too. Big frame, can block, huge catch radius.
I didn’t think TE was a need at all for 2026 headed into the draft. Bottom 3 for me…didn’t care if we added one.
It’s a top 10 group at the floor imo for 2026. We have a no doubt top 10 starter and two #2s…
I never got the obsession with adding a Njoku or the need that a lot were preaching this offseason. Like safety, if the guys in charge think we have enough, then I say we do too. They know better than the rest of us where Kerby, BB, and LaPorta stand with their injuries
That’s definitely the hope, right? The truth is that very little much has come out publicly about any of the three, so I think people are taking a worst-case scenario route. I would hope the Lions are making the proper roster additions according to their knowledge of each’s injury and where they stand. If we get to the season and LaPorta, Kerby, and Branch are ALL not ready to go, then maybe there’s a reason to be concerned. But as it sits now, I’m expecting both LaPorta and Kerby to be on the field game 1 until the Lions say otherwise.
Oh I will be highly disappointed if they aren’t on the field to start the season. I too will be like, then wtf were you doing? At TE at least…
I don’t think the safety position looks that bad. Of course it’s miles behind Kerby/Branch but that was the best tandem in the league. It’s to be expected
Yeah, that’s fair enough. Not gonna pretend like I deep-dived what went wrong over there, just taking the words of their fans who I assume know best. Usually though you hear some good and some bad, but with him it seems it’s all bad. I did say maybe there was a reason though, and it sounds like play time and sample size could definitely be one of them.
In addendum, I don’t think Conklin is the issue if he’s TE3/2. I think the issue is if Wright can be TE1 if LaPorta is out. Certainly he won’t produce like LaPorta, but he doesn’t need to be LaPorta with all the rest of the talent on the field, imo. And you’re not replacing LaPorta with an equivalent anywhere - in the FA or the draft or a vet signing.
TBH, I’m more concerned about LB than any other position. If Jack goes down? If Barnes goes down? Who is filling those roles? If I’m losing any sleep at night over a position group, it’s LB.
But after him? Brock Wright is steadily and reliably unimpressive. The Lions won’t cut him with their TE cupboard bare, but they would save $3M post June by cutting him. Justin Rogers wrote “Tyler Conklin is an accomplished contender for TE3.” Um-kay. Yet the Lions value him so much that they gave him a contract with zero guarantees. They did not show him the money.
