The Detroit Lions will face the Green Bay Packers in Week 9. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding TE Sam LaPorta.
Is Sam LaPorta Playing in Week 9?
LaPorta is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Lions’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Sam LaPorta in Week 9?
Week 8 was LaPorta’s fourth finish as a viable fantasy starter, though it didn’t come without a sweat. Brock Wright found the end zone before the starter, and then LaPorta had a score taken off the board after his touchdown was reversed.
It was all shaping up for another big Detroit, small LaPorta game when the Lions were again in tight positioning and pitched it to touchdown-savant David Montgomery. The halfback, however, flipped the ball to the throwing position and delivered an on-target pass to LaPorta, bailing out fantasy managers across this great nation.
You’re playing him in season-long options because you’re not going to have a better option (from a roster construction standpoint, you shouldn’t), but I’m steering clear in DFS. The Packers blitz at the fourth-lowest rate this season (18.5% of opponent dropbacks), and that’s bad news for LaPorta, even with Jameson Williams serving the second game of his PED suspension:
Target rates when Goff is not blitzed, 2024:
- David Montgomery: 27.9%
- Amon-Ra St. Brown: 25.5%
- Jahmyr Gibbs: 22.2%
- Tim Patrick: 16.9%
- Kalif Raymond: 15.3%
- LaPorta: 11.2%
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Sam LaPorta’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 9
LaPorta is projected to score 10.3 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 3.6 receptions for 43.7 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insights: Green Bay Packers Defense
After a couple of weeks of improvement in a row from the Green Bay Packers defense, they slipped back into their old ways against the Jacksonville Jaguars, ranking 22nd for the week. After finishing fifth for the week against the Houston Texans, sliding back that far is a frustrating turn of events for the Packers, but hopefully just a one-game thing.
This defense has been a strange one because its success has been based on splash plays and turnovers. They lead the league in turnover rate (20%), which has seen them rank fourth in pass EPA per dropback. However, they have struggled with the “bread and butter” parts of defending, ranking 28th in terms of pass success rate. The rest of their metrics are largely league average, which mirrors how they profile as an overall unit.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Sam LaPorta’s Week 9 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.
Conference Championship TE PPR Rankings
1) Travis Kelce | KC (vs. BUF)
2) Dallas Goedert | PHI (vs. WAS)
3) Dalton Kincaid | BUF (at KC)
4) Zach Ertz | WAS (at PHI)
5) Noah Gray | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Dawson Knox | BUF (at KC)
7) John Bates | WAS (at PHI)
8) Grant Calcaterra | PHI (vs. WAS)
9) Ben Sinnott | WAS (at PHI)
10) Quintin Morris | BUF (at KC)
11) Peyton Hendershot | KC (vs. BUF)
12) E.J. Jenkins | PHI (vs. WAS)
13) Anthony Firkser | NYJ ()
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers Insights
Detroit Lions
Team: The Lions have scored 30-plus points in four straight games – it’s the first SEASON in which they’ve scored 30 points in four games during the 2000s.
QB: Detroit has won five straight games, and in those games, Jared Goff has a 146.6 in-pocket passer rating (78-94 for 1,023 yards, 11 touchdowns, and one interception).
Offense: Jahmyr Gibbs has a 45-plus yard rush TD in consecutive games, the fifth running back to do that since 2016 (others: Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Leonard Fournette, and Kareem Hunt).
Defense: In four of their past six games, the Lions have held their opponent to an under-30 % conversion rate on third downs (last week vs. Titans: 3-0]of-11, 27.3%).
Fantasy: David Montgomery has scored in six of seven games this season, but he hasn’t cleared a dozen carries in a game since Week 3 at Arizona.
Betting: Since 2020, the Lions have been 28-13 ATS (68.3%) in games played after Halloween, which is three full games better than any other team.
Green Bay Packers
Team: The Packers ended last regular season winning six of eight games, and they’ve opened this season with a 6-2 mark (of those four losses, three came by fewer than six points).
QB: Jordan Love has thrown an interception in every game this season, and eight of nine have come when operating in the pocket.
Offense: The Packers entered the red zone on a season-high 46.2% of their drives against the Jaguars.
Defense: Green Bay forced Jacksonville to go three-and-out on 58.3% of their drives last week, the defense’s best showing this season.
Fantasy: The status of the QB position means the world in terms of fantasy efficiency for Josh Jacobs. In his last two games with Love starting, he’s come in 38.4% over expectation – in Malik Willis’ two starts, 39% under expectation.
Betting: Since 2020, the NFC North has the three top teams in over percentage in games played after Halloween (Packers: 62.8%, Lions: 61%).
