Should I start Brock Bowers or Sam LaPorta in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Brock Bowers, and the board ranks him 76th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 17; 2QB: ADP 32.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam LaPorta, and the board ranks him 89th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Brock Bowers is 3.2 PPR points a game off 1 market across 4 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Sam LaPorta is 2.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Brock Bowers's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Brock Bowers has been on the field for 83 percent of LV snaps, drawn 28 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 23 of the offence's 60 third down targets, had 2 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 36 two minute targets.

His 61 targets have averaged 10.0 air yards.

In Week 6 against BUF he caught 4 of 9 targets for 70 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against LAR he caught 6 of 8 targets for 73 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against NYJ he caught 7 of 10 targets for 92 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Through Week 8, Sam LaPorta has been on the field for 89 percent of DET snaps, drawn 18 percent of the targets and had 12 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 8 of the offence's 60 third down targets, had 2 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 44 targets have averaged 6.1 air yards.

In Week 5 against ARI he caught 5 of 5 targets for 88 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against GB he caught 1 of 2 targets for 18 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against MIN he carried 1 time for 2 yards, caught 3 of 5 targets for 33 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Brock Bowers played 12 games and scored 176.2 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing TE11.

He caught 64 of 86 targets for 680 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 16 red zone targets.

That came to 7.2 targets a game, a 74 percent catch rate and 10.6 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 85 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Sam LaPorta played 9 games and scored 106.9 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing TE27.

He caught 40 of 49 targets for 489 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 4 red zone targets.

That came to 5.4 targets a game, a 82 percent catch rate and 12.2 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 90 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Brock Bowers was available for 3 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Brock Bowers scored 14.7 PPR points a game and Sam LaPorta 11.9, 2.8 a game between them.

Brock Bowers finished TE11 that year and Sam LaPorta TE27.

Brock Bowers had 37 more targets than Sam LaPorta, 86 to 49.

Brock Bowers had 191 more receiving yards than Sam LaPorta, 680 to 489.

This season Sam LaPorta holds the bigger snap share, 89 percent against 83 percent.

This season Brock Bowers holds the bigger target share, 28 percent against 18 percent.

Byes and availability

Brock Bowers is off in Week 13 and Sam LaPorta in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.