Team news: Detroit Lions | Page 6

The fact that Sam LaPorta's a rookie playing one of the hardest positions in football makes what he’s doing all the more impressive. He’s been everything the Lions have wanted and more.

LaPorta leads all tight ends in receiving yards (186), ranks second in receptions (18) and third in yards after the catch (76). He’s been reliable, as eight of his 18 catches have gone for a first down. Of his 186 receiving yards, 129 have come in zone coverage, where he’s been able to find the soft spots and work in space (56 of his 76 YAC have come versus zone coverage). He’s the first tight end in NFL history to record at least five receptions in each of his first three games. His 18 receptions are the most for a tight end through his first three games, and his 186 yards are the second-most.

The Lions traded down from 6 to 12 in the NFL Draft this past spring. They passed on the likes of Bijan Robinson and selected Jahmyr Gibbs, but used the extra pick to select LaPorta, a player they saw as someone who could step in and replace T.J. Hockenson, who they traded to the Vikings. The story said LaPorta was one of the most game-ready players in the draft. He doesn't seem to be going away any time soon and it's possible he's still on the wire in your league as he's available in about 35% of ESPN leagues as of this news post.

Lions RB David Montgomery (thigh) is doubtful for Sunday. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (toe) is questionable, and LT Taylor Decker (ankle) is out again.

Related Players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

The Gibbs breakout game may be coming sooner than expected, but we imagine that the team will give Reynolds plenty of early-down run if Montgomery misses Week 3. Gibbs is currently ranked as the RB10 in 4for4's rankings.

Lions’ WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was back at practice today, but RB David Montgomery was not.

Related Players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

The Gibbs breakout game may be coming sooner than expected, but we imagine that the team will give Reynolds plenty of early-down run if Montgomery misses Week 3. Gibbs is currently ranked as the RB10 in 4for4's rankings.

RB Zonovan Knight to the Lions’ practice squad up to their active roster with David Montgomery (thigh) dinged up.

Related players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

Knight gets the call after Montgomery was injured in Week 2. Monty is considered day-to-day, but reports have said he could miss a couple of weeks, and the promotion of Knight could certainly indicate that. Gibbs and Reynolds should split the workload, but Knight will probably get some chances as well. He looked good enough with the Jets last year that if Monty does miss a few weeks, Knight could potentially work his way up to the RB2 slot.

The #Steelers placed WR Diontae Johnson on IR.

Related players: George Pickens, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin III

A prime example of why we can't always trust players when it comes to their own injuries: Johnson claimed to be day-to-day after the Week 1 injury, but now finds himself missing the next four games. The earliest he can come back is Week 7. Pickens, Robinson and Austin will be the team's top-three WRs. Austin, at least, is likely still on your waiver wire and could be worth a look in deeper leagues.

Lions’ RB David Montgomery, who did not finish Sunday’s game and was limping after, told reporters he it would take “a couple weeks” for his quad injury to heal.

Related players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

Gibbs should see a bump in touches but the Lions may not yet want to give him a bulk of the workload in terms of carries. Gibbs had seven receptions for 39 yards and added seven carries for 17 yards and should still remain highly involved in the passing game, but Reynolds could see his share of the carries Monty would normally get. We'll keep you posted about any kind of RB workload news as the week goes on.

Lions RB David Montgomery was carted to the locker room with a leg injury during Sunday's game against the Seahawks.

Montgomery had his knee twisted as he was making a catch. Montgomery had a nice day before the injury, rushing for 67 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts and adding a 7-yard catch. While he is out, perhaps we start seeing more of rookie Jahmyr Gibbs. Hopefully the injury for Montgomery isn't serious.

Steelers’ WR Diontae Johnson is expected to be sidelined “a few weeks” due to the hamstring injury he suffered Sunday vs. the 49ers, per source.

Related players: George Pickens, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin III

It's a big blow to the Steelers offense as Johnson was expected to bounce back this season after not scoring a touchdown all of last year. We'll have to wait word for how long Johnson misses, and now the big fear is the team places him on IR, which means he'd potentially miss the next four games. Pickens and Robinson likely take over the top-two roles at WR, but Austin could sneak into the fantasy-relevant category as well.

Lions coach Dan Campbell says Jahmyr Gibbs' low snap count against KC was by design. He wanted to let him get a glimpse of what the game looked like before unleashing him.

"He'll begin to get more touches now, so that was just the beginning last night."

Related Players: David Montgomery

This makes sense, as Montgomery ended up seeing quite a lot of time that most figured would be pegged for the rookie, namely, third-down obvious passing situations. Gibbs looked great when on the field, including a 6.0 YPA on seven attempts and his two targets for 2-18-0 on his nine routes ran. There's a long season ahead of us, and Gibbs can easily end up paying off his 3rd/4th round draft capital.

Both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery have proven to be very capable and reliable receiving threats.

Gibbs made a ton of catches down the field in training camp and I think that's something we could see that is a little unconventional from other pass-catching backs around the league.

Writer Tim Twentyman went on to say Gibbs, in particular, "might be the best pass catching running back I've seen in Detroit in my 15 years covering the team. He's got natural hands and is a terrific route runner." With wide receiver Jameson Williams suspended and DJ Chark no longer in Detroit, Twentyman said vertical threats don't have to be receivers so that's one thing to watch out for with Gibbs.