The All-NFC North Preseason Team: LaPorta over Hockenson at TE

The two best tight ends come from the Iowa Hawkeyes.

NFC North tight ends. | Images courtesy of USA Today Sports

As we continue our All-NFC North Preseason Team reveal, today we focus on tight ends.

The voting, conducted by myself, Bill Huber from Packers On SI, John Maakaron from Lions On SI andGene Chamberlain from Bears On SI, included each writer voting for the four best tight ends in the division. Detroit's Sam LaPorta took home three of four first-place votes, including mine, while Minnesota's T.J. Hockenson had one first-place vote and three second-place votes to come in second overall.

LaPorta burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2023 with 86 catches for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns. Hockenson, in two fewer games, racked up 95 catches for 960 yards and five touchdowns. Is LaPorta flat out better than Hockenson? Definitely not, but the touchdown numbers are hard to argue, although, if we want to get nit-picky we can certainly point to the fact that Hockenson posted big numbers despite playing with backup quarterbacks for half the season while LaPorta had Jared Goff throwing him passes.

Coming in third in the vote was Chicago's Cole Kmet, who had three third-place votes and one second-place tally. Fourth-place votes went to Green Bay's Luke Musgrave (2), Minnesota's Josh Oliver (1) and Chicago's Gerald Everett (1).

Let's dive a little deeper into our First Team selection...

1. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions – by John Maakaron, Lions On SI

LaPorta wasted very little time adapting to the NFL world, as he had a record-setting rookie campaign in 2023. He proved to be an exceptional piece within the offense and was ahead of the curve as a run-blocker. While his numbers in college weren’t ideal in Iowa’s struggling offense, he performed at an elite level in his first NFL season. 

The Lions elected to not add an external free agent at the wide receiver position after the departure of Josh Reynolds, so even more targets could be coming LaPorta’s way in 2024. He proved himself worthy of this workload after an 86-catch debut season.

He has reliable hands as well as yards after catch ability, which makes him a big play threat. Additionally, LaPorta demonstrated an excellent rapport with Jared Goff throughout the 2024 campaign. He gives the offense a solid security blanket when other options such as Amon-Ra St. Brown are taken away.

Last season, LaPorta was a second-team All-Pro selection. He is the latest tight end to be successful after playing collegiately at Iowa, joining fellow NFC North standout and former Lion T.J. Hockenson. He appears poised for another big year in 2024.

Related: The All-NFC North Preseason Team: Goff leads quarterbacks

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