Analyze Sam LaPorta's matchup for week 7
LaPorta has rebounded from a slow start with back-to-back TE1 weeks (5-92-1 and 5-55-1) and now draws a Bucs defense that has already surrendered 4 TE scores in five games. Expect another 5-6 catch, red-zone-fueled day that keeps him firmly in the top-7 mix.
Tampa Bay’s defense has been surprisingly charitable to tight ends, coughing up 5.4 receptions, 44.4 yards and 0.8 TDs per game (6th-most fantasy points to the position). The Bucs have allowed multiple TE touchdowns already and rank just 24th in overall points allowed, setting up a plus home matchup for a Lions offense that is force-feeding LaPorta a 25% target rate over the past two weeks.
After zero touchdowns and 44.3 YPG through Week 4, LaPorta has ripped off 10-147-2 on 12 targets the past two weeks, re-establishing himself as the clear second option behind Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The arrow is pointing straight up for Sam LaPorta heading into Week 7. A quiet start that saw him average 44.3 yards per game and fail to score through the first four weeks had drafters questioning his top-five pedigree, but a usage spike has flipped the script. Over the past two weeks he’s seen 12 targets—double his per-game rate from Weeks 2-4—and turned them into 10 receptions, 147 yards and two scores, good for TE4 numbers. The catalyst has been his red-zone renaissance: LaPorta has commanded five looks inside the 20 during this stretch after seeing only three total in the opening month. Detroit’s offense is finally treating him as the primary middle-of-field weapon instead of merely a safety valve, and the dividends are showing up in fantasy box scores.
Tampa Bay’s defense is the perfect elixir for any tight end malaise. The Buccaneers have allowed at least one TE touchdown in four of five games and currently sport the league’s sixth-most generous scoring rate to the position (8.8 PPG). Their linebackers have struggled to carry athletic tight ends through vertical seams, and their split-field safeties have been late to squeeze intermediate crossers—exactly the routes LaPorta has excelled at since his rookie year. Even with an otherwise respectable pass defense ranking 12th in DVOA, the Bucs have been carved up by the likes of Dallas Goedert and Noah Fant when those athletes were featured, proving the weakness is real and exploitable.
Put it all together and you get one of the clearest green-light starts on the Week 7 board. LaPorta’s recent 25% targets-per-route rate would be elite for any receiver; for a tight end it’s top-three usage. He’s back to running the majority of his snaps attached or in-line, forcing linebackers to cover him, and Jared Goff has shown a renewed willingness to stare him down in the red zone. The Lions are 6.5-point favorites in a game with a 47-point total, so positive game-script should keep the ball in Goff’s hands and the targets flowing toward LaPorta. Expect a floor of five grabs and 60 yards with a better-than-average shot at a touchdown—numbers that play as a mid-tier TE1 in any format and give him legitimate top-five positional upside for the week.