Lions mailbag: What’s up with Sam LaPorta?

Sam LaPorta is off to a slow start. What’s up with that? We answer that and more in our latest Detroit Lions mailbag.

Earlier in the week, we offered our Midweek Mailbag podcast. Now it’s time to offer some Detroit Lions mailbag to our reading audience. As always, if you want to submit questions, hit us up on Twitter using the hashtag #AskPOD.

Onto this week’s question:

It’s a fair question to ask considering his significant decrease in receiving production. Last year, he averaged 52.3 yards per game, and that is all the way down to 36.8 through four games. And after scoring 10 touchdowns last year, he has yet to find the end zone in 2024.

Coaches have insisted that nothing is different with LaPorta, the way defenses are playing him, or what they’re doing on offense. And based on what I’ve seen on the film, I tend to agree. Statistically, LaPorta’s role is nearly identical to last year. Per PFF, last year 463 of his 1,153 snaps were spent as a run blocker—or 40.2%. This year, 90 of his 212 snaps have been as a run blocker—42.5%.

However, I don’t think that slight increase can be attributed to LaPorta’s lack of production. I simply think the offense got off to a slow start and they have mouths to feed. It’ll only be a matter of time before LaPorta gets his.

I noticed that change more last year, and I think what you’re observing is just a continuation of that. I think that’s a result of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson giving Jared Goff more ownership of the offense. That has been a clear goal of this regime, considering Goff was more of a pawn under Sean McVay. Back in 2023, Goff admitted he had more control of the offense than at any point of his career.

“I like knowing what’s going on obviously on everything and being able to take control of that is super important,” Goff said.

That was one of the reasons coach Dan Campbell said Goff was better than he was in LA.

“He’s a better quarterback than he was there, in my opinion,” Campbell said back during 2023 minicamp. “Because he can do more things. He’s mentally on it. We’ve come light years ahead of where he was two years ago.”

I agree that Kayode Awosika looked great at left guard against the Seattle Seahawks, but I don’t expect the Lions to bench Graham Glasgow based on a single-game performance. Not to take away anything from Awosika’s performance, but it’s important to remember how banged up Seattle’s defensive line was. Glasgow was the assumed starter at left guard all offseason, and held onto the job through training camp. I don’t suspect that will change after one game, particularly when Glasgow is still playing well.

That’s a very good question, and a timely one, because Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network just put out a neat article this week detailing how uniform combinations are selected. Because he put a lot of work and research into that article, I’m not just going to reprint his answers here. But you can get them over on his website here.

Going to loop these two together, since the Vikings are a centerpiece to both discussions.

Going 3-0 over the next three games is pretty tough ask, considering the Cowboys and Vikings games are on the road. I don’t suspect the Titans will offer too much trouble, though. It’s also worth pointing out a trip to Lambeau awaits Detroit after this trio of games. It’s arguably the toughest stretch left in the season.

Detroit could be catching Dallas at a good time with Demarcus Lawrence on IR and the status of Micah Parsons still very much in doubt. Those two have been a thorn in Detroit’s side for a long time, and they’re a big reason Detroit has only scored 25 total points over the last two contests against Dallas. I think the Lions offense could finally hang 30 on them this week and walk out of Dallas with their first win over the Cowboys since 2013.

The Vikings, to me, are a much tougher ask. That defense is legit right now. In my opinion, Brian Flores is the best defensive coordinator in football, and he’s got a bunch of new pieces playing together in a way that has opposing offenses’ heads spinning. Their offensive weapons could give the Lions corners some serious issues, especially if T.J. Hockenson is back, as currently expected.

They’re not only well-rounded, but they’ve played some very difficult teams, even if they were dealing with injuries at the time. Beating the 49ers, Texans, and Packers (in Green Bay) can only be downplayed if you’re looking for reasons to hate on a team. Show me a team with a better resume right now.

The only reason I see people suggest regression is “Sam Darnold is Sam Darnold,” but given how many quarterbacks we’ve recently seen succeed once out of a toxic situation, I’m going to need more than that. Personally, I think they’re for real, and if the game was being played tomorrow, I’d probably pick Minnesota.

It will be interesting to see what the Lions do when Christian Mahogany is back. It certainly seems like Detroit plans to return him to practice when they return from the bye, but he’ll remain on the Non-Football Injury list for at least a couple weeks. There’s no urgency to get him back into the lineup, and given that he hasn’t taken a practice rep since minicamp, it’ll take some ramping up to get him gameday ready.

But when he’s ready to go and back on the 53-man roster, it’s hard to know what they’ll do—especially since further injuries could change the conversation. The only one of the current nine offensive lineman who I would guess could be in trouble is Michael Niese, but if Frank Ragnow is still sidelined, Detroit wouldn’t part with their only other non-Graham Glasgow center. Given Colby Sorsdal has been inactive several games, he’s also part of the conversation, but with his youth and long developmental curve, I don’t see him being cut. I made this answer way too long, but yes, I think they’d keep 10.

As for Ifeatu Melifonwu, I like your idea of using him as an extra defender in either a dime or nickel set. In a lot of ways, that feels like the best way to get your 11 best defenders on the field at the same time in the wake of Derrick Barnes’ injury.

But last week, I expected the Lions to compensate Barnes’ loss with more nickel looks, and they only saw a small uptick in nickel defense, which was likely more due to game situation (see: Seattle passing 50 times) than it was Barnes’ injury. So I would be a little surprised if Detroit goes this route because they seem to really like base defense and really trust their linebacking corps, even without Barnes.