Should I start Sam LaPorta or Tetairoa McMillan in Week 9?

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 Tetairoa McMillan, and the board ranks him 90th 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 Tetairoa McMillan is 2.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 5 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver'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 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, Tetairoa McMillan has been on the field for 83 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 26 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 12 of the offence's 53 third down targets, had 3 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 9 of its 34 two minute targets.

His 65 targets have averaged 10.7 air yards.

In Week 6 against PHI he caught 6 of 9 targets for 86 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against TB he caught 4 of 6 targets for 40 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against GB he caught 6 of 11 targets for 58 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 Tetairoa McMillan played 17 games and scored 211.4 PPR points, 12.4 a game, finishing WR16.

He caught 70 of 122 targets for 1014 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 15 red zone targets.

That came to 7.2 targets a game, a 57 percent catch rate and 15 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 87 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Tetairoa McMillan was available for 8 games more.

Side by side

In 2025 Tetairoa McMillan scored 12.4 PPR points a game and Sam LaPorta 11.9, 0.6 a game between them.

Sam LaPorta finished TE27 and Tetairoa McMillan WR16, which are two different ladders.

Sam LaPorta is a tight end and Tetairoa McMillan a wide receiver, 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 Tetairoa McMillan in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.