Should I start George Kittle or Sam LaPorta in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on George Kittle, and the board ranks him 60th overall on the rest of his evidence.

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 George Kittle is 4.6 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. 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.

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

This season so far

Through Week 7, George Kittle has been on the field for 78 percent of SF snaps, drawn 22 percent of the targets and had 15 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 50 third down targets, had 1 of its 24 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 30 two minute targets.

His 46 targets have averaged 7.7 air yards.

In Week 5 against SEA he caught 5 of 6 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against WAS he caught 5 of 8 targets for 69 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against ATL he caught 8 of 10 targets for 88 yards and did not score.

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 George Kittle played 11 games and scored 161.5 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing TE13.

He caught 57 of 69 targets for 628 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets.

That came to 6.3 targets a game, a 83 percent catch rate and 11.0 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 80 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.

George Kittle was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

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

George Kittle finished TE13 that year and Sam LaPorta TE27.

George Kittle had 20 more targets than Sam LaPorta, 69 to 49.

George Kittle had 139 more receiving yards than Sam LaPorta, 628 to 489.

This season Sam LaPorta holds the bigger snap share, 89 percent against 78 percent.

This season George Kittle holds the bigger target share, 22 percent against 18 percent.

Byes and availability

George Kittle is off in Week 8 and Sam LaPorta in Week 6, so either can cover the other's bye.