Lions tight end Sam LaPorta is an ideal DFS value play in Week 12

In Week 10, Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta set his season-high with 66 receiving yards and he scored for the third time in five games. So it was a buzz kill that he was unable to finish the game due to a AC joint sprain in his left shoulder, and he missed Week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Indications all week said LaPorta would be back in action for Week 12 against the Indianapolis Colts, and indeed he practiced in full all week and has no injury designation for Sunday's game.

LaPorta has been impossible to trust in season-long fantasy lineups this season, though managers who drafted him have probably been stuck starting him and crossing their fingers most weeks. That remains the case this week, but...

Sam LaPorta lined up as a nice DFS value for Week 12

The Colts enter Week 12 allowing the seventh-most fantasy points per game to tight ends (Yahoo! scoring; 0.5-point PPR). In full PPR, they are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to tight ends. In terms of raw numbers, they've allowed the third-most receptions (64) and tied for the second-most touchdowns (six) to the position. At times it's been two tight ends who combined for good production against Indianapolis, but seven tight ends have topped 50 yards and/or scored against them thus far.

As noted by Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report, with a DFS angle, LaPorta is a remarkable value on DraftKings this week ($4,300). That value pretty much holds up on FanDuel as well, with a $5,800 salary for LaPorta (ninth-highest at the position, $100 behind Dallas Cowboys' tight end Jake Ferguson, who is out this week).

LaPorta shapes up to be fairly touchdown dependent with a wide range of outcomes this week, but that's fine for a bit of a pay-down in DFS. I took a run at creating a FanDuel lineup with LaPorta, and here's what I came up with:

QB: Jayden Daniels ($9,000)
RB: Bucky Irving ($6,8000
RB: Roschon Johnson ($6,100)
WR: DK Metlcalf ($7,900)
WR: Josh Downs ($6,900)
WR: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine ($5,500)
Flex: WR Marvin Harrison Jr. ($7,200)
TE: LaPorta ($5,800)
DEF: Houston Texans ($4,700)

LaPorta removed the angst his managers have felt about him in season-long fantasy leagues this year when he was simply out in Week 11. That angst is back this week for those managers, but there's far less stress in plugging him into a DFS lineup and there's potential profit in that path with the Lions' tight end this week.