James Mitchell Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

The Lions are signing TE Zach Ertz, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Ertz arrives as a fairly big name, but don't consider him a serious challenge to TE Sam LaPorta's outlook. Detroit suddenly finds weak depth at the position after losing Brock Wright to a forearm fracture in Sunday's win over the Buccaneers. The team previously placed TE James Mitchell on IR after he suffered a hand injury in practice ahead of the win over the Rams. Wright drew just 1 target before leaving Sunday's game, in which he played 30 snaps. No Lions TE besides LaPorta drew a target in the previous game, despite LaPorta being just a week removed from a knee injury.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta (knee) was listed as a full participant in Friday's practice and is officially questionable for Sunday's Wild Card game vs. the Rams. He's obviously in much better shape than it seemed he'd be early in the week, although we're still skeptical that LaPorta will play on Sunday. If he does, it'll be at far less than 100%. We'll continue to keep you updated on his status. TE James Mitchell (hand) has been ruled out, so Detroit will be down to TE Brock Wright if LaPorta does not play.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. The team hasn't yet ruled him out for Sunday's Wild Card game vs. the Rams, but he's a major long shot to play in that one. James Mitchell replaced LaPorta as Detroit's lead TE last week.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta has been diagnosed with a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "He’s likely to miss some time, but as coach Dan Campbell said, not as bad as it could’ve been," Rapoport adds. We'll look for a more concrete timeline for LaPorta's return, but expect him to miss at least next weekend's Wild Card game. Detroit does not have a legitimate replacement on the roster. TEs James Mitchell and Brock Wright have combined for 56 career catches.

Tim Twentyman of the Lions’ official site writes that TE Sam LaPorta is “expected to play a big role right away.” It’s a reasonable statement given LaPorta’s TE competition: Brock Wright, James Mitchell, and Shane Zylstra. Per Twentyman, Detroit’s coaching staff came away from OTAs/minicamp “pleasantly surprised” with the rookie’s “instincts and feel for the game.” We’ll see if LaPorta can keep up the momentum come training camp. For now, he’s on a trajectory to enter the spot-start TE1 discussion. Factoring in his current ADP — TE19 — LaPorta made our list of best tight ends for fantasy football.

Lions TE Brock Wright (concussion) is active for today’s game vs. the Packers. He figures to split TE duties with James Mitchell after this week’s T.J. Hockenson trade.

Lions TE Brock Wright (concussion) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Packers. He was a full participant in Friday’s practice, so Wright is seemingly on track to get cleared and split TE duties with James Mitchell on Sunday.

Lions TE Brock Wright (concussion) returned to a limited practice on Thursday. We'll see what he does on Friday and how he's listed on the final injury report. If he's cleared in time for this weekend's game vs. the Packers, Wright will split TE duties with rookie James Mitchell.

Lions TE Brock Wright (concussion) did not practice on Wednesday. That makes him iffy for this weekend's game vs. the Packers. Wright was slated to share TE duties with James Mitchell after T.J. Hockenson's departure. Wright's absence would be a boost for Mitchell and make the rookie an intriguing Week 9 DFS flier.

The Lions are trading TE T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings, along with a 2023 4th-round pick and a 2024 conditional 4th-round pick, in exchange for a 2023 2nd-round pick and 2024 3rd-round pick, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports. It's surprising for a few reasons, most notably because it's an intra-division trade and involves a former 1st-round pick still on his rookie deal. Hockenson counts just $6.5 million against this year's salary cap and has a $9.3 million 5th-year option for 2023. He's been slightly underwhelming through 3+ NFL seasons considering he was the 8th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. But Hockenson's 44.0 receiving yards per game since 2019 rank 10th among TEs. He's averaged a career-best 56.4 yards per game so far this year and ranks 7th among 31 qualifying TEs in Pro Football Focus' 2022 receiving grades. Minnesota is an OK spot for Hockenson's rest-of-season fantasy value. He'll obviously be behind WR Justin Jefferson in the pecking order but could challenge WR Adam Thielen for the #2 spot. And the Vikings have been a pass-leaning offense this year, ranking 7th at 38.0 pass attempts per game. (The Lions rank 15th at 35.7.). Hockenson will face negative fantasy-scoring matchups the next 2 weeks vs. Washington and Buffalo, but the schedule looks nice after that. Detroit, meanwhile, is left with TEs Brock Wright and James Mitchell. Wright is the preferred add but is probably only worth a look in TE-premium leagues like the FFPC. RB D'Andre Swift and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown should pick up more targets with Hockenson gone.