Twentyman's take: Amon-Ra St. Brown spoke to the media late in OTAs and was asked if there was any player who had caught his eye during spring practice. The first name out of his mouth was LaPorta.
The third-year tight end had a fantastic spring making plays all over the field, including some plays deep down the field. New offensive coordinator John Morton is all about exploiting favorable matchups, and LaPorta could really benefit from that in 2025. There aren't many linebackers or safeties in this league who can cover him one-on-one.
LaPorta's numbers dipped a little bit last year off his record-setting rookie campaign but that was to be expected somewhat with the emergence of Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs in the passing game. There's only one football to go around, and St. Brown is going to get his too.
LaPorta was huge down the stretch for the Lions and there might not be a player quarterback Jared Goff trusts more outside of St. Brown than him. LaPorta racked up 29 receptions for 335 yards over the final five games. That's a full-season pace of over 90 catches and 1,100 yards.
The way LaPorta was playing this spring, I wouldn't be surprised if his numbers are a little closer to his rookie season (86 rec., 889 yards, 10 TD) than what we saw last year (60 rec., 726 yards, 7 TD).
Wright is a perfect complement to LaPorta because he's so good at doing all the little things and the dirty work the Lions ask of their tight ends. When given the opportunity to make a play, he steps up every time.