Exit interviews: New coordinator's tendencies suggest offseason investment in bolstering tight end room around LaPorta
Wrapping up the Detroit Lions’ 2025 season, we’re doing our annual position-by-position evaluation of the roster. Today, we’ll focus on the play of the team’s tight ends.
The straightforward stats
Sam LaPorta: Nine starts, 517 snaps, 49 targets, 40 receptions, 489 yards, three touchdowns
Brock Wright: 11 games (eight starts), 401 snaps, 22 targets, 14 receptions, 108 yards, two touchdowns
Anthony Firkser: Seven games (four starts), 187 snaps, 10 targets, eight receptions, 53 yards
Shane Zylstra: Six games (three starts), 164 snaps, five targets, three receptions, 20 yards
Ross Dwelley: 11 games (one start), 118 snaps, five targets, two receptions, 7 yards
Giovanni Ricci: Three games (one start), 58 snaps, one target, zero receptions
Advanced metrics
Prior to suffering a season-ending back injury, LaPorta was taking off in his third season, putting himself on pace to threaten franchise records he set as a rookie in 2023.
More impressively, LaPorta was catching nearly everything thrown his direction, hauling in 40 of 49 targets, without a single drop. That 81.6% catch rate was easily a career high. He was also gaining more yards per reception than during his first two seasons, fueled by averaging 6.9 yards after the catch.
LaPorta’s schematic usage also shifted in 2025, with more work coming in the slot, compared to in-line. He went from 26.7% of routes run from the slot to slightly more than 40%.