Is Sam LaPorta playing this week?
No injury designationSam LaPorta has no injury designation on the latest injury reports for the week 4 game at the Carolina Panthers.
Kickoff: Sun, Oct 4 · 8:20 PM ET.
Checked Oct 3, 7:48 PM ET against the ESPN injury report and the NFL's official weekly report (via nflverse). Injury news can change up to kickoff, so confirm with the team close to game time.
Ask StatGrades about Sam LaPorta
Ask your own questionOur numbers plus what they can't show: injuries around him, role changes, weather, rest and travel, line moves and the latest reporting, all linked.
Fantasy football · Week 4
Our own start/sit calls for every player, with a projected score, the range of likely outcomes and the reasons spelled out. Built from usage, matchup, Vegas lines and injuries. How we rank
Start. DET's offense is expected to score about 27 points, a strong scoring spot.
Why we say start
- Projected 8.5 points, #10 among TEs this week, inside the top 12 we recommend starting.
- DET's offense is expected to score about 27 points, a strong scoring spot.
- Averaging 6.3 targets a game.
- Played 92% of the offense's snaps last game.
Recent form
Dashed line: the usual 7.9 a game
This week's matchup
- Expected team score
- ~27 pts
- Vegas line
- DET favored by 3.5
- Game total
- 50.5
- CAR vs TEs
- 6% more points
- Last game snaps
- 92%
All week 4 tight end rankings →Start or sit tool →How our past calls did →
Age
25
Height
6'3"
Weight
245 lb
College
Iowa
Experience
3 seasons
Draft
2023 · Pick #34 (DET)
Status
ACT
Grade Breakdown
What do these mean?Why 72.9?
LaPorta's grade is driven mainly by strong value per target, ranking 8th among tight ends with at least 8 targets, including a big 18-yard gain on 4th down against Buffalo. Through just 3 games and 19 targets, other measures like success rate and target share were about average, neither adding nor subtracting from the grade.
Lifting the grade
- EPA per target of +0.529, 8th of 35 tight ends
- 18-yard catch on 4th-and-5 vs Buffalo worth +4.3 expected points
- 28-yard catch vs the Jets worth +1.6 expected points
Holding it back
- Incomplete pass on 3rd-and-2 vs the Jets cost -1.6 expected points
- A sack and fumble vs New Orleans while he was the target cost -1.0 expected points
Written by StatGrades AI from this season's play-by-play through week 3. It explains what happened; a grade isn't a forecast (what grades do and don't predict).
EPA / play
0.514
Success rate
63%
WPA (sum)
0.25
Opponent adj.
0.014
Plays graded
19
Advanced stats
2026 season through Week 2 · tracking data from NFL Next Gen Stats| Week | Separation | Cushion | YAC above exp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4.0 | 5.6 | +0.0 |
| 2 | 4.7 | 3.2 | +0.0 |
What do these mean?
- Separation:
- Average distance from the nearest defender at the moment of the catch.
- Cushion:
- Average distance from the nearest defender at the snap.
- YAC above exp:
- Yards after catch above what the situation would be expected to produce.
- YAC / rec:
- Average yards after the catch per reception.
- Expected YAC:
- Expected yards after the catch, based on tracking data.
- Air yards share:
- Share of the team's intended air yards that were thrown toward this player.
- Intended air yds:
- Average depth of the targets thrown his way.
- Catch %:
- Receptions divided by targets.
Next Gen Stats data via nflverse (CC BY 4.0). Updated after games are final, not live, and covers QB, RB, WR and TE.