Should I start Sam LaPorta or D'Andre Swift in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam LaPorta, and the board ranks him 73rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on D'Andre Swift, and the board ranks him 75th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In standard drafts he goes at ADP 13.

The market-based projections

Sam LaPorta's market-based projection is 10.2 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 10 market sources. That is the 61st highest figure of the 219 players with a market-based projection.

The market-based projection for D'Andre Swift is 5.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 10 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

D'Andre Swift's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 8

Through Week 8, Sam LaPorta has been on the field for 90 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.

Through Week 8, D'Andre Swift has been on the field for 60 percent of CHI snaps, taken 52 percent of the carries, drawn 11 percent of the targets and had 34 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 6 of the offence's 70 third down targets, had 19 of its 40 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 38 two minute targets.

His 28 targets have come 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 6 against ATL he carried 16 times for 44 yards, caught 4 of 5 targets for 26 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 7 against NE he carried 22 times for 78 yards, caught 4 of 4 targets for 12 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 8 against SEA he carried 27 times for 69 yards, caught 2 of 3 targets for 10 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

Their 2025 seasons

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.

In 2025 D'Andre Swift played 16 games and scored 228.6 PPR points, 14.3 a game, finishing RB15.

He carried 223 times for 1087 yards and 9 touchdowns, and caught 34 of 48 targets for 299 more yards.

That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.9 yards a carry and 2.1 catches a game.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

D'Andre Swift was available for 7 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 D'Andre Swift scored 14.3 PPR points a game and Sam LaPorta 11.9, 2.4 a game between them.

Sam LaPorta finished TE27 and D'Andre Swift RB15, which are two different ladders.

Sam LaPorta is a tight end and D'Andre Swift a running back, so the question is which slot you fill first rather than which of them is better.

Byes and availability

Sam LaPorta is off in Week 6 and D'Andre Swift in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

D'Andre Swift has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.