04-07-2023, 01:58 PM
(04-07-2023, 10:49 AM)OSUfan Wrote: Again, just my opinion but I am not a big Sam LaPorta fan. I don't care for his size at the position as he seems closer to fullback than TE. Here is my take on him:
* Not a big yards after contact threat.
* Not much elusiveness nor does he break a lot of tackles.
* TDs - virtually non existent. He has 5 total TDs in his 4 years at Iowa and 3 of those in one season.
* Redzone threat - the lack of TDs seems to answer this.
* Blocking - he really is not a good blocker and when he is singled up against an edge defender very often loses that matchup.
Again, this is just my take from what I have seen of him but I believe some of these deficiencies seem to be backed up by his stats. As an example Davis Allen has 12 TDs in his time at Clemson. Cameron Latu as well has 12 TDs but that was in only 2 seasons as a starter at Bama. I believe that Latu is only starting to scratch the surface of his abilities at the position.
I could certainly be wrong.
I think LaPorta is a lot better than what he shown at Iowa with terrible QB play and think he is about the 2nd most solid TE to
come out of this class behind Mayer. Darnell of course has the highest upside, but I think both Mayer and LaPorta will have long
productive careers more than any of the other TE's in this class. I could be wrong as well, I just like LaPorta a lot out of TE U.
