Should I start Sam LaPorta or Josh Cuevas in Week 9?
Updated Nov 3, 8:11 AM ET. Week 10 answers post Tuesday.
Start Sam LaPorta: 88 percent of the snaps and 18 percent of the targets over their last 3 games, against Josh Cuevas's 28 percent of the snaps and 10 percent of the targets. No market projection is posted on either of them this week, so this is a usage call, and a lower confidence one than a call made on a projection. What follows is what each of them has done.
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Your next move
More fantasy football tools and rankings, all built from the same board.
Both players' season market-based projection, their usage this season and their last full season's numbers.
TE12 · DET · bye 6
2026 vs anytime td line 3-4
- Market-based projection
- 11.0 pts a game Wk 8 price
- Overall rank
- 89
TE13 · BAL · bye unlisted
- Market-based projection
- 2.7 pts a game
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The gap
- Board size300 draftable players
Draft data is not current for these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out. The call above comes from each player's usage.
Where the draft room stands
Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam LaPorta, and the board ranks him 89th overall on the rest of his evidence.
Live drafts hold no current pick on Josh Cuevas, and the board ranks him 94th 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.
Josh Cuevas's market-based projection is 2.7 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 10 market sources. That is the 73rd highest figure of the 183 players with a market-based 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 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.
Through Week 8, Josh Cuevas has been on the field for 22 percent of BAL snaps, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 1 of the offence's 66 third down targets, had 1 of its 26 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 47 two minute targets.
His 13 targets have averaged 5.5 air yards.
In Week 6 against CLE he caught 4 of 5 targets for 44 yards and scored 1 touchdown.
In Week 7 against CIN he caught 2 of 3 targets for 35 yards and did not score.
In Week 8 against BUF he caught 1 of 2 targets for 15 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.
Josh Cuevas is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.
Head to head
This season Sam LaPorta holds the bigger snap share, 89 percent against 22 percent.
This season Sam LaPorta holds the bigger target share, 18 percent against 6 percent.
Byes and availability
Sam LaPorta is off in Week 6. No bye is listed for Josh Cuevas.
What would change the answer
Sam LaPorta has only a partial projection, so the market half of this page is whole for only one of them.
Both players in full
Week 9 on the board
- Is Sam LaPorta playing Week 9?
- Is Josh Cuevas playing Week 9?
- Lions depth chart
- Ravens depth chart
- Week 9 TE rankings
- Week 9 fantasy rankings
- Week 9 start or sit
- Week 9 waiver wire
- Week 9 trade value chart
- Trade deadline buy low, sell high
- Fantasy football rankings
- Start 'em sit 'em Week 9
- Waiver wire pickups
- Fantasy sleepers
- Rest of season rankings
- Week 9 kicker rankings
- Week 9 defense rankings
