Fantasy Football News

Lions TE Sam LaPorta managed just 3 catches for 33 yards on a 20% target share in Sunday’s win over Minnesota. That followed an even quieter Week 7, when he caught only 1 of 2 targets for 18 yards.

Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown hurt an ankle in the win over the Packers and isn't expected to practice on Wednesday, HC Dan Campbell said. St. Brown "should be good" to play vs. the Vikings this weekend, "but we'll see when we get there," Campbell added. We'll keep a close eye on St. Brown's status throughout the week. His absence would be a boost to WR Jameson Williams and TE Sam LaPorta and could make WR Isaac TeSlaa a deep-league option.

LaPorta produced both a team and season-high 22.4 PPR points in the Lions’ primetime loss to the Panthers. He hauled in eight of his 13 targets for 84 yards and a TD to finish as the TE2 in Week 4 pending Monday Night Football. It’s his highest-scoring game since Week 15 of his rookie season in 2023.

If you drafted Jameson Williams and started him against the Saints in Week 1, you're probably not too happy about his mere 4 catches for 45 yards. That landed Williams outside the top 40 across fantasy formats for the week. But his 9 targets ranked second on the team, one ahead of TE Sam LaPorta. Williams landed eighth among WRs in expected PPR points for the week.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta was back on the practice field on Tuesday, less than a week after HC Dan Campbell was non-committal on his Week 1 availability due to a hip injury. LaPorta took part in individual and team drills, per The Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett. Barring a setback, LaPorta is on track to be a full-go come Week 1.

Lions HC Dan Campbell said Thursday that TE Sam LaPorta is dealing with a hip injury after taking a hit in practice earlier this week. The injury doesn't sound serious, but Campbell admitted he's not sure if it'll impact LaPorta's Week 1 availability, per insider Tim Twentyman.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta has gained full clearance for the start of training camp, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. LaPorta dealt with a fully herniated disk last season that required a microdiscectomy procedure. That injury cost him the final eight games.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta is expected to be "full go" for training camp, according to Tim Twentyman of the team's official website. LaPorta is working his way back from November back surgery and has been limited in practices this month.

The Lions are hiring Drew Petzing as their new OC, according to multiple reports. ESPN's Eric Woodyard writes that Petzing is expected to call plays, after HC Dan Campbell took over those duties during the second half of 2025. Petzing spent the past three seasons as Cardinals OC. Arizona's offenses were middling under Petzing, ranking 19th, 11th, and 19th in total yards and 24th, 12th, and 23rd in points. But he piloted productive and efficient running games in 2023 and 2024, with the Cardinals ranking top seven in both rushing yards and yards per carry both years. Arizona sunk to 31st in yards this past year but still ranked 16th in yards per carry. QB Kyler Murray played a big part in those rushing attacks. But Cardinals RBs averaged 4.7 yards per carry in Petzing's scheme. Consider this hire good news for RB Jahmyr Gibbs.

The Lions announced that they've "parted ways" with OC John Morton. Morton called plays for the first eight games of the season, guiding the team to 351 total yards and 29.9 points per game. HC Dan Campbell took over play-calling for the final nine games. Detroit climbed to 393 yards per game but sunk to 26.9 points. We'll see who the Lions hire to replace Morton as OC -- and whether Campbell keeps play-calling duties. Campbell was non-committal when asked on Monday. "I'm open to anything," he said. "I don't know exactly where I'm at with that yet. Listen, I'm going to think through all of that. I really want to do what I feel is best for the team. If I believe that's what's best for us and I feel good about it, I will."

Lions HC Dan Campbell gave a semi-optimistic update Wednesday on TE Sam LaPorta, who underwent back surgery in mid-November. "Yeah, he's getting better," Campbell said. "It wouldn't have been one of those things where you get in the playoffs. Did he have a chance to play? No, it wouldn't be that. But I feel like next year, that certainly isn't off the table early in the year. You'd like to believe training camp we'll get him. But you're talking about a back. And he's improving, but yet, he's not completely healed. ... Certainly, it feels better after the surgery than he did right before, so that's a positive. Took a lot of stress off that nerve, so we'll see." LaPorta's rehab will be one of the bigger storylines of the offseason. He was sitting ninth among TEs in PPR points per game through Week 10. He'll be worth a shot in early best-ball drafts if he's going in that late-TE1 territory. But we wouldn't be rushing out to acquire LaPorta in dynasty right now. The back issue likely adds short- and long-term health risk to his profile.

The Detroit Lions put up a dud in Week 17 against the Minnesota Vikings. RB Jahmyr Gibbs went 17-41-0 on the ground. He usually makes up for poor rushing with his receiving, but that wasn’t the case this week. Gibbs only went 2-23-0 through the air on 3 targets. That’s only 8.4 PPR fantasy points, his worst performance since Week 9 against the Vikings. RB David Montgomery only managed 5 PPR points with WR Jameson Williams only scoring 5.7. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was the only Lion to come through in PPR going 8-68-0 on 13 targets. This poor performance marks a disappointing end to the Lions’ season, and questions linger about how elite they will be in 2026

Lions HC Dan Campbell said Friday that TE Sam LaPorta had back surgery and that his chances of returning this season are "very, very slim." We'll look for more details on LaPorta's injury and whether it'll impact his 2026, but he can be dropped from all redraft rosters.

The Lions placed TE Sam LaPorta on IR with his back injury. He's out through at least through Week 14, and it's unclear if he'll be ready to return when first eligible in Week 15. We still don't have any details on this back injury. LaPorta is worth trying to hang on to in fantasy leagues, but he's not a must-hold if you need the roster space. TE Brock Wright is next up on Detroit's depth chart but owns just 65 catches in 67 career games. TE Ross Dwelley -- 45 catches in 108 games -- is also on the active roster. TEs Anthony Firkser and Zach Horton are on the practice squad. We wouldn't bother with any of these guys in fantasy right now. Expect most of LaPorta's targets to be spread to WRs Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams and RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.