SAM LAPORTA'S HISTORIC ROOKIE YEAR SPARKED DETROIT IN 2023 - LIONS FILM STUDY #lions #detroit

this video is going to be yet another film study look at Sam lorta who turned in one of the the most impressive seasons for a rookie tight end to my knowledge and in NFL history it turns out after doing a little bit of research makes me feel a little bit less guilty for having done so many film study videos of him in 2023 I do want to point your attention or perhaps interest towards one that I completed after week two before he had scored an NFL touchdown in the regular season that is go back and look at some of my thoughts and see what I projected after only watching him play against the Chiefs and then the Seahawks in weeks one and two I did four in the regular season one in the postseason right before the NFC championship game against the 49ers obviously he was dealing with an injury I don't think he practiced that week the week one film against the Chiefs his regular season opener was was an eye opener for me it it showed not just his ability to line up as a tight end in the slot or to the boundary and be effective I think he had like five catches for 39 yards no touchdowns that night Thursday Night Football opener obviously but he also lined up at wide receiver that evening and he beat Trent McDuffy on a physical Collision type play he he didn't win a third down earlier on against a corner on the other side of the field he also had three different blocks that Illustrated how balanced he was in terms of the Run game and it was kind of shocking to sit back and look at the impact or the way he was utilized the diversity of how he was utilized I had no idea that he was going to be that complete in week one that talented as a receiving threat during the course of the season first of all that did I think he was going to be a b good player yes of course I mean you saw the highlights they really impressive you could see the ability to catch Point vertically at at Iowa that you know obviously didn't have a great offense there super efficient but the toughness at the catch Point some down the field plays clearly when the Lions drafted him in in round two early in round two pick 34 you know they got it right obviously the talent and the rating was there still week one was an eyeopener for me with the diversity of the way he was utilized I pretty much knew I was going to do a film study video of him after that game but it was so quick before the Sunday night or Sunday afternoon week one games had to wait till after week two he played extremely well against the Seahawks in that week two loss and then all he does is rack up 86 catches in a variety of ways throughout the season I think he was a solid and occasionally really tough Blocker in Ben Johnson scheme that I think is demanding for for tight ends and then returns from injury late in the season week 18 injury knee injury at that against the Vikings returns to put up 21 catches on 29 Targets in the playoffs it's a 77% catch percentage 176 yards overall in the one touchdown against the Rams thought it was a brilliant rookie season I'm not sure what why some people would say he can't match that or even exceed it the talent is there we'll get the film started here by looking at um third down completions from 2023 third down conversions that is and I'm going to break the film up into four parts and the idea is to point out all that he's capable of of doing all that he can do and it's kind of ridiculous to think unless I did my math wrong he played the entire 2023 regular season at just 22 years old he's a ridiculous asset for a Lions team that's already blessed at this point with foundational pieces and in Su St Brown now they've signed Goff for four years along with talents like Brian Branch jir Gibbs Jameson Williams and and oh by the way Aiden Hutchinson it's it's pretty incredible the young Talent they've got there the team is obviously on the right trajectory and I think people outside of lions fan base have no idea that this is going to continue for two three four years until this group moves on or or prices thems out of Detroit so third down plays here he's he's got an incredible ability it almost seems innate to win on third down often against man coverage as well in some cases he's been he's able to make the reception and convert for a new set of downs after the ball was tipped maybe thrown back against the grain of the route into the radius the arm radius of of the defender kind of like that one right there against Carlton Davis III but more so a couple against the Saints these are exclusively plays here where leaport is lined up as a tight end except for the one that I showed you again the win against Davis on third down against the Bucks in the divisional round so mostly he's into the boundary in 11 personnel the fourth down touchdown against the Rams is the is the first play that I want to talk about it'll cycle through back here in a moment I think it's a tremendous example of what Ben Johnson and Detroit can do with lorta as a hybrid player can you can go 12 personnel and elicit a defense is base defense they're 4-3 or their 34 structure you can go 11 personnel certainly that's what a lot of teams do in the NFL spend 60 to 65% of the time and 11 personnel and survive or even Thrive with him into the boundary or in the case of that touchdown against the Rams go jumbo 23 two running backs because cabinda was on the field three tight ends in the form of leapa Brock Wright who I'm glad they brought back I don't know about you and then Skipper as the eligible tight end on the other side forcen outside linebacker or someone who's uncomfortable into a coverage spot that they really can't win at least against a guy like lorta so they got the Rams to respond here with their goal line package lorta picked up an easy win over 97 I think it's Haw who's actually a really underrated player but nonetheless he's not suited at all to cover a guy like lorta down in that space clearly they had they had gotten the Rams into their goal line look and he's really difficult to stop for for DB safeties nickel Defenders let alone an outside linebacker who's put in that position where he just can't succeed I uh I think in breing routs he's almost nuclear on he's one of the best guys in the league on in-breaking routes somehow shielding The Defender enough but it doesn't look like a concerted effort to Shield him it's just natural and G also generally puts the ball you know where he can where he can go attack and he's some would say He's only 6'3 other tight ends in the league are 65 66 leor reminds me of U I'm going to make a basketball comparison that's usually what I rely on spent the majority of my athletic time playing basketball pretty much 330 340 days a year for for 25 years he reminds me of an NFL small forward in that he can post up smaller Defenders but he can also drive by the bigger power forwards who are occasionally asked to guard him and oh by the way he can shoot efficiently as a spot up guy or even off the dribble basically someone who is incredibly balanced almost unfairly so he's a true matchup variable in this offense he'd be a true matchup variable in in any offense for real but in this one the way it turned out him and St Brown just tormented NFL defenses with the number of targets that they got and the number of plays that they made I think what they did together in 2023 was pretty amazing um again the playoff run 21 catches pretty insane I think he's an All Pro Caliber player in in my opinion and I really had no idea of that one year ago I wouldn't have forecast him to be an all proo player I'm not good at forecasting stats it's not something I focus on so I guess I could say that about many players but would you have forecast this type of season for leor I do know of two people on my YouTube or commenters I should say on my YouTube channel who after the Lions drafted him in the 2020 3 draft came on to the channel when I did a review and and immediately said lto was the best player that they drafted I didn't know that at that time but he certainly looks like he can be at times when be the thing I think is interesting about his routes is before he's open GF will often have let go of the ball already they are definitely in sync they certainly know or read the defenses at the same time and look that's something that gof does with with st Brown as well those two guys St Brown and lorta seem to be the two players that golf is is most comfortable with if you ask me the blocking stood out to me in in week one like I said and we'll focus on some of it here I can't show the one touchdown run by Montgomery against the Chiefs it was it be get picked up for YouTube copyright use it was a f counter was basically Montgomery capped that fourth quarter drive with a six-yard touchdown run to put the Lions ahead to break the 1414 tie a nine playay 75 yard Drive really physical drive and and so that one gets a copyright notice but in any case from a blocking standpoint what he was asked to do in week one I thought was quite multiple and I want to make a different sports comparison for him maybe you don't appreciate mine but sometimes it helps me understand a player and and maybe be able to give you some insight into player and and how how well they perform at the various tasks they're asked to go out there and execute he's not a home run hitter as a blocker I don't think he's a guy who hits 25 home runs as a blocker but if you look first let's look at who he's dealing with often times defensive ends or defensive tackles in the case of Wham trap actually omitted two Wham trap plays that here that I probably should have shown for a baseball comparison he's a guy who hits a lot of singles and doubles and probably hits 315 or 320 because he doesn't strike out a lot he stays on guys he stays on Defenders keeps his feet moving hence the not hitting home runs comparison if you've coached before coached offense before you probably know what I'm talking about in terms of coaching tight ends or fullbacks now maybe you didn't use that phrase certain kids you use certain phrases and it clicks for them certain kids you got to go deeper into your bag your third or fourth phrase is what works for them sometimes those tight ends or fullbacks getting out on on second level players whether it's ISO block or a kickout block on a split Zone concept you tell them don't try to hit a home run let's just hit a double if everybody else in here or back there does their job let's not have you whiff strike out and then Force the running back into a bad decision let's at least create the lane lorta I don't think is special as a Blocker in that regard but where he is very unique is his athleticism on reverses out in space I think his athleticism plays a role on some of those Concepts that Ben Johnson uses because he maintains correct leverage meaning he'll be on the side that he's supposed to be kind of like this play you see here he'll be on the side he's supposed to be the two reverses against the Saints Jameson Williams 19 yard touchdown run and then that one you just saw those are the two that stick out in my mind in terms of his athleticism um especially the one where he's dealing with Marcus Davenport it'll CLE back through here in a moment that PS a guy I intend to get a film study video out on at some point I've just got so many projects uh stacked up finally what makes him really unique as a blocker at least in terms of his usage in 2023 was an 11 personnel yeah he's a tight end you're often going to see him to the boundary like you just saw there but Ben Johnson will ask him to occasionally line up as a fullback that's a real pain for defenses to deal with when they go with their nickel defense 425 four down linemen two inside linebackers and then five DBS again you're seeing the reverse cycle back through here the touchdown by Jameson Williams he's not hitting a home run he's not certainly not muscling up Davenport I think he's giving him enough resistance to make Davenport hold the edge hold outside leverage such that Jameson Williams ends up cutting it inside of that exterior um frame that Davenport still has you can see with his outside arm free the usage as a fullback is really incredible if you ask me because when you look at it in combination of blocking as a regular tight end whether it's inline tight end or someone who creates a three-man surface blocking out in some space on reverses counter or split Zone Concepts where he's a kickout block and then they also ask him an 11 personel lineup as a fullback and I think he generally does a pretty good job across all of those alignments it's a unique situation again I would say he gets the job done but he's not going to overwhelm people with huge kickout blocks or pancakes he's just smart doesn't go for the home run because the Lions don't usually need one everyone else in there offensive line other tight ends whatever has usually done their job such that they only need aorta to not lose the rep he doesn't need to dominate it to get a win hopefully I said that in a way that makes sense it's certainly not not meant to minimize his impact because if you're listening to what I'm saying you can probably tell I think I really think he's actually very high level I think he's way better at it than maybe some some people probably predicted is he a devastating blocker no but he's a damn he's a damn great receiving threat and to be able to line up in all those different places and be effective at him effective at all of those I think is unique in and of itself to further give people an idea if you're listen this long you're probably just a lions fan so you know already you didn't need my convincing but to further convince those who may be listening so far who aren't lying Lions fans the guy does a nice job lining up at receiver I'm going to use a comparison to two other guys drafted in the same range as him in 20123 Dalton kin Kade and Luke Musgrave I think the lions got this one right and look kin Kade and Musgrave are very talented they're tough players I think they had 73 and 34 catches as rookies they combined for three touchdowns leor had 10 this is no knock on them at all this this is really not to draw a comparison into their overall skills it's to hopefully illustrate a very Stark comparison into something that lorta can do that they cannot and that is line up as a wide receiver and have an impact on the game you're seeing some some big plays cycle through from a tight end position for lorta but what you won't see from most other tight ends is a guy guys who can go out there and line up at receiver like he can and have an impact now do I think they should switch his position no and I'm not into running down other NFL players I don't that don't play for my team whether it's a divisional fo to the Ravens or the lions at this point I'm not into that that's just not me but one thing that kin Kate and Musgrave do not offer that lorta does is that capability of lining up at wide receiver being effective he's got wins against some good corners on the outside you saw the third down win in the playoffs against Davis III Trent McDuffy for the Chiefs you'll see it cycle through back in a minute lorta bullied him on that play now do I think that if he was to be a full-time receiver he might struggle with press coverage at times fine go ahead and say that it really doesn't matter because it's not going to happen but the point is Ben Johnson can move him around he has the ability to use leor to where he wants and dictate to the defense at times who's going to line up against him you recall that fourth down touchdown against the Rams that was important that was that was the culmination of the third drive for Detroit leor touchdown made it 2110 Midway through the second quarter the Rams answered immediately thereafter with their own touchdown remember it was a crazy first half 217 at the half point is the Lions can move lorta around and he can win he can win against bigger guys who are too slow the defensive end for the Rams but even bigger safeties that are a little bit too slow I'm not going to mention names you can think of some on your own if you wish he can win against smaller Corners that can't deal with his physicality his length and his catch radius the ability to play through contact is also quite noticeable when you look at the film he's actually open earlier on a couple of these plays the one that just showed there and then this one against Deon Witherspoon for the Seahawks who was as talented as they come for a rookie defensive back he's open earlier G just happens to be looking at the other side of the field the Reed is down to the bottom side of the field or in the middle of the field for whatever reason so he comes back to the port to late and by that time Witherspoon has been able to recover his unique ability to influence the game if you go back and look at the 2023 draft and you look at the two guys drafted within a couple of picks from of each other lorta and Brian Branch they're similar players to me on different sides of the ball because they can do so many things they're versatile with their own position tight end and nickel now Branch man up playing more safety this year I'll offer you that we're just talking about what how they performed in 2023 what positions they were utilized at and performed really well well but both of those guys could play other spots and in fact Brian Branch apparently will how many guys talking about lto one more time how many guys have lined up at wide receiver at least 20 times in a season like he did I mean outside wide receiver I think I only showed you five or six here but there was another dozen or so that I didn't use I can't show you every single play how many guys have lined up here at least 20 times in a season and been somewhat effective mostly in Breaking routes yeah so there's not a real varied route tree there no problem and then those same players have also been a typical tight end who generates 80 plus catches 10 touchdowns oh and then by the way also line up at fullback sometimes and are asked to block like a typical fullback I don't know the answer to the question I'm posing it's not a gotcha moment I don't know how to even search it there is two or there are two incredibly smart and talented data oriented people in the Ravens Discord they could probably figure it out um I suspect the answer to that is is zero meaning someone who has lined up at receiver as a rookie been effective at times I tried to prove it to you with the small sample size I showed there 80 plus catches 10 touchdowns and lines up at fullback and does a decent job blocking as a as a lead ISO type blocker and is smart enough to get it done along with the physicality and the size and athleticism I I think the number's probably zero maybe you'll be able to think of some other players maybe you can think of someone who has the the willingness first of all size ability speed and explosiveness to play a little bit of wide receiver a little bit of fullback and block and give you 10 touchdowns in a season it sounds like a video game a creative player to me but we're not done in terms of how he has impacted the Lions offense in 2023 just his rookie season because you're talking about a guy who generates big plays against multiple types of DBS converts on third Downs played hurt late in the season playoffs I should say in the biggest moments I think he missed a significant amount of practice time for two of those weeks my memory doesn't serve here so you know you have to let me know and then has the agility downfield to make DB's Miss on the route meaning lean or hedge one way like you see on this long touchdown on a post against the uh against the Falcons and then cross the face of the safety the speed is there well 455 46 whatever the heck it is it's fast enough to get the job done he's got so much talent it's almost unfair and like I said earlier I kind of feel a little guilty about producing one more video on him I do have a ton of projects I would like to produce before training camp start his big playability his yards after the catch potential his blocking and efficiency reliab on third down remarkable this is the sixth video I've produced on him so it'll be the last until the regular season or the preseason please consider going back and rewatching the film study video I did after weeks one and two I'll be honest I have not I don't necessarily even remember what I said but I'd like some feedback on how far off base I was with my evaluation again it was after weeks one and two against the Chiefs and the Seahawks he hadn't scored a touchdown yet he went on to be a real problem obviously for almost every team he dealt with that that dealt with him the Lions have this really diverse physical smart Run game you combine that with St Brown's all World Talent you guys know what I think of St Brown I think he's one of the top 10 football players in the whole league players not receivers the quick delivery recognition pre-nap awareness that golf offers and then lorta comes in in 2023 and he becomes this monster for teams to consider is was that the main factor in the team improving well him and jir Gibbs being additions definitely helped no doubt I still can't believe that after the 2022 season there weren't more people focusing on the lions in terms of how good they were going to be a true Contender you guys made it to the NFC Championship Game very easily could have been in the Super Bowl Detroit I think in 2022 was fifth in points and fourth in total offensive yards 2023 fifth in points and third in total offensive yards points went up though in terms of the upper echelon of teams in the NFL because they're being fifth in points I think they actually scored almost 60 more points in the regular season than the year before I see no reason why with the same cast save for Josh Reynolds and and Jackson Jonah Jackson the left guard other than those two you're bringing back the same cast as last year same coaching staff I think with Lor's ability to get into vertical space his speed playmaking ability physicality ability to get yards after the catch like you see there as crazy as it sounds I could see him matching or exceeding his statistical output from 2023 if he's healthy if he plays in all 17 games or 16 games if the Lions don't need him to play the last week of the season because the record is so good I know it's a difficult schedule I think gol and him are in time and there's this real attempt by Ben Johnson to attack to the boundary consistently it's a FOC that's the reason why I think leapa could theoretically match his production from last year because attacking to the boundary is what Ben Johnson wants to do he's very good at it with his run schemes as well as the pass I do want to do a standalone video on the the vertical wheel against the Saints from week 14 really brilliant design that you guys saw cycle through a couple of times I think leor is a unique player I've done a couple of sports comparisons here I'll do one more here reminds me of a a basketball guy that you go to watch play I mean high school maybe College goes like 10 for 14 shooting or 12 for 16 they have four threes but also three dunks the number of players who can do that in one game threes and dunks is very rare and he makes it both of them look easy he reminds me like I said of of basketball players you go watch in high school and you leave with your friends maybe you get in the car and you say how many points you think leapa had and everybody's like uh 25 28 something like that and this will reveal my age here you look in the newspaper the next day and you find out it was 38 and he only missed four or five shots because everything is so smooth for them you just rarely get the sense that lorta is out of his element and what for everyone else ends up being a somewhat difficult 12-footer is in reality for him a layup because his overall skill level is just so high he's a unique player incredibly talented I believe that the 2023 draft for Detroit ends up being franchise altering just from the the sheer number of really good player really good to great players that were drafted how they were able to have an impact in 2023 as rookies most rookies who get a lot of reps improve in year two Health permitting obviously those four guys five I guess henden hooker is not going to get many reps obviously enough unless Jared go was to go down for a period of time those four guys man I think could could alter the the course of the franchise along with the smart free agent acquisitions Montgomery and now Kevin zitler and other guys that were drafted in other years as well and I appreciate you guys time I hope you enjoyed the film study video the way I tried to package the plays his impact on third Downs his ability to block across multiple alignments not significant from a from the standpoint of overall snaps as an outside wide receiver but is effective and efficient there and I think I showed that there's certain routes that he can win against starting level outside corners and then finally the big play ability off the charts Talent level superb pick by Brad Holmes in the second round you have to give those guys credit they did not get it wrong at all in the second round with him or Brian Branch drafting two potentially All Pro players in the second round early be it be that as it may appreciate you guys time man if you think other Lions fans would enjoy this film study look commentary at Sam laapa and how he performed as a rookie then please consider grabbing a link to this video sharing it out on social media to help this content get more reach