ALLEN PARK — Sam LaPorta is one of those irreplaceable types of players for the Detroit Lions.
He’s a lethal pass-catcher over the middle and has the type of skillset that pairs well with Jared Goff’s. The Lions have a ton of confidence in Brock Wright’s ability to step into the TE1 role. But Wright isn’t the type of dynamic receiving option that LaPorta is.
When offensive coordinator John Morton was asked when the Lions miss LaPorta the most, he said:
“All the time.”
LaPorta posted 40 catches for 489 yards and three touchdowns in nine games. He’s since been placed on injured reserve with a back injury, and while the Lions are hopeful he’ll return this season, they just aren’t sure. And that’s another issue to account for on offense.
“Well, obviously, (serious) enough to where we are talking about four weeks here,” Lions coach Dan Campbell previously said. “So, obviously, we’re going to hope that this thing calms down, and after those four games, we can get him back. But we’re really just taking this day-by-day, week-by-week.”
Pro Football Focus ranks LaPorta as the second-best tight end in the NFL to this point. He ranks 16th in pass blocking and doesn’t have a drop across 49 targets. The tight end has missed only nine passes thrown his way this season, which deserves some love after All-Pro Amon-Ra St. Brown caught only two of 12 targets in Philadelphia last week.
“I mean, he’s a hell of an all-around blocker, receiver, he can do it all,” Morton said. “But he was really reliable on third down in the red zone, that’s the biggest thing. But his blocking on first and second down. I mean, the way he’s improved with his blocking, it’s just been awesome. So, our other guys — all the tight ends have got to step up.”
The Lions leaned on Wright heavily in the first game without LaPorta. Wright played a season-high 49 snaps against the Eagles, catching two passes on seven targets for 8 yards. To Wright’s defense, he was wide open on the tipped-ball interception in the first quarter and near the goal line on a failed fourth-down play.
But they used veteran tight end Ross Dwelley for only one offensive snap. And Jackson Meeks, who has been working with the tight ends and wide receivers, only played one, too.
Jahmyr Gibbs was the leading receiver, making the most of his opportunities out of the backfield. The Lions running back had five catches on eight looks for 107 yards, with a long gain of 42 yards via a lethal screen-pass design. With LaPorta out and the Lions looking for new ways to open things up, look for Gibbs and others to pick up the slack.
There could also be more meat on the bone for receivers Kalif Raymond and rookie Isaac TeSlaa. The Lions have talked for months about wanting to get TeSlaa more involved, and this could open the door, especially after increasing his snaps last week.
“Yeah, not having LaPorta, it’s a tough deal,” Morton said. “I always smile when you bring up LaPorta. I’m not smiling right now. No, but this gives everybody else some opportunities, and then we have to be creative, and that’s the fun part. We love that part — game planning. I love this. Trying to figure out things and trying to create mismatches here and there. So, we’ll have a bunch of different packages, and I’m looking forward to it. We’ll practice that today on third down. And even on first and second down, we’re putting guys in different spots.
“They’ve got to learn — someone’s got to step up because that’s a big loss not having LaPorta, there’s no doubt.”
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