Should I start Sam LaPorta or Jordan Mason in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam LaPorta, and the board ranks him 93rd overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Jordan Mason, and the board ranks him 95th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Sam LaPorta is 2.7 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.

The market-based projection for Jordan Mason is 3.2 PPR points a game off 1 market across 1 market source. That is 30 percent of what a running back's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Sam LaPorta'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, Jordan Mason has been on the field for 46 percent of MIN snaps, taken 51 percent of the carries, drawn 3 percent of the targets and had 26 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 27 third down targets, had 1 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 2 two minute targets.

His 2 targets have averaged 0.0 air yards.

In Week 1 against GB he carried 15 times for 59 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against IND he carried 15 times for 68 yards, caught 0 of 2 targets for 0 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against DET he carried 8 times for 20 yards and did not score.

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 Jordan Mason played 16 games and scored 128.9 PPR points, 8.1 a game, finishing RB36.

He carried 159 times for 758 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 14 of 16 targets for 51 more yards.

That came to 9.9 carries a game at 4.8 yards a carry and 0.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 44 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Jordan Mason was available for 7 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Sam LaPorta scored 11.9 PPR points a game and Jordan Mason 8.1, 3.8 a game between them.

Sam LaPorta finished TE27 and Jordan Mason RB36, which are two different ladders.

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

Byes and availability

Both are off in Week 6, so a roster holding the pair has that one week to cover twice.