Should I start Sam LaPorta or Rico Dowdle in Week 7?

The market-based projections

Sam LaPorta's market-based projection is 12.0 PPR points a game, built from 3 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 49th highest figure of the 196 players with a market-based projection.

Rico Dowdle's market-based projection is 7.9 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 13 market sources. That is the 74th highest figure of the 196 players with a market-based projection.

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Sam LaPorta, and the board ranks him 45th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Rico Dowdle, and the board ranks him 44th overall on the rest of his evidence.

This season so far

Through Week 5, Sam LaPorta has been on the field for 88 percent of DET snaps, drawn 20 percent of the targets and had 13 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 45 third down targets, had 2 of its 21 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 21 two minute targets.

His 37 targets have averaged 6.3 air yards.

In Week 3 against NYJ he caught 3 of 4 targets for 44 yards and did not score.

In Week 4 against CAR he caught 8 of 13 targets for 84 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

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

Through Week 6, Rico Dowdle has been on the field for 36 percent of PIT snaps, taken 35 percent of the carries, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 1 of the offence's 30 third down targets, had 0 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 17 two minute targets.

His 11 targets have come 1 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 1 against ATL he carried 8 times for 15 yards, caught 2 of 5 targets for 6 yards and did not score.

In Week 2 against NE he carried 7 times for 22 yards, caught 2 of 2 targets for 22 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against TB he carried 7 times for 40 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 9 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 Rico Dowdle played 17 games and scored 216.3 PPR points, 12.7 a game, finishing RB18.

He carried 236 times for 1076 yards and 6 touchdowns, and caught 39 of 50 targets for 297 more yards.

That came to 13.9 carries a game at 4.6 yards a carry and 2.3 catches a game.

He was on the field for 56 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Rico Dowdle was available for 8 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Rico Dowdle scored 12.7 PPR points a game and Sam LaPorta 11.9, 0.8 a game between them.

Sam LaPorta finished TE27 and Rico Dowdle RB18, which are two different ladders.

Sam LaPorta is a tight end and Rico Dowdle 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 Rico Dowdle in Week 9, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

4.1 points a game is the entire case. The market restates it every week, and a line that moves moves the order with it.

The draft market is the half that is missing: when live drafts hold these two again they can order them differently from the projection, and this page will follow the drafts rather than the market-based projection when they do.