Should I start Sam LaPorta or Travis Kelce in Week 8?

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 Travis Kelce, and the board ranks him 91st overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

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.

The market-based projection for Travis Kelce 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.

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, Travis Kelce has been on the field for 78 percent of KC snaps, drawn 19 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 11 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 0 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 28 two minute targets.

His 42 targets have averaged 6.4 air yards.

In Week 6 against LAC he caught 4 of 5 targets for 53 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against SEA he caught 4 of 8 targets for 44 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against DEN he caught 5 of 7 targets for 67 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 Travis Kelce played 17 games and scored 193.2 PPR points, 11.4 a game, finishing TE3.

He caught 76 of 108 targets for 851 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 6.4 targets a game, a 70 percent catch rate and 11.2 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 81 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Travis Kelce was available for 8 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Sam LaPorta scored 11.9 PPR points a game and Travis Kelce 11.4, 0.5 a game between them.

Sam LaPorta finished TE27 that year and Travis Kelce TE3.

Travis Kelce had 59 more targets than Sam LaPorta, 108 to 49.

Travis Kelce had 362 more receiving yards than Sam LaPorta, 851 to 489.

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

This season Travis Kelce holds the bigger target share, 19 percent against 18 percent.

Byes and availability

Sam LaPorta is off in Week 6 and Travis Kelce in Week 5, so either can cover the other's bye.