The good: In his second season, Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta continued to show off the kind of production that makes him one of the best young tight ends in the NFL.

LaPorta finished the season tied for fourth among tight ends with seven touchdowns, was tied with Baltimore's Mark Andrews for most third-down receptions (39), and was tied for third with six receptions of at least 25 yards.

LaPorta has had one of the most productive starts to a career by a tight end in NFL history.

In Week 17, he became the first tight end to record 600 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns in each of his first two career seasons. He also became the fourth tight end in NFL history to log 1,500 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns in his first two seasons. The other three players on that list are Mike Ditka, Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham.

LaPorta's 17 receiving touchdowns the last two seasons are the most in a player's first two seasons in franchise history, besting the 16 by Calvin Johnson (2007-08) and Roy Williams (2004-05).

LaPorta has also become a favorite target for a number of Detroit's trick plays. He had the 52-yard touchdown in Dallas on the reverse pitch-back pass from quarterback Jared Goff. He was on the receiving end of running back David Montgomery's 8-yard touchdown pass vs. Tennessee. And who could forget the 'stumble bum' touchdown in Chicago. LaPorta's versatility makes him a perfect target for those trick plays.

The Lions matched the three-year, $12 million offer sheet to Brock Wright last offseason and he continued to be a versatile player for Detroit's offense. Wright is a good receiver in his own right, but he really excels doing some of the blocking dirty work as Detroit's tight ends played a big role in a run game that finished sixth in rushing yards (2,488) and second in rushing touchdowns (29).

LaPorta and Wright are both do-it-all tight ends who are under contract for the next two seasons. LaPorta's 60 receptions this season were second most on the team behind only wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown's 115.

The bad: The Lions had so many weapons offensively in 2024, especially with the emergence of wide receiver Jameson Williams in his third season, that it's hard to get everyone involved all of the time. LaPorta seemed most affected by this, at least early in the season.

LaPorta suffered a hamstring injury in August that lingered a little into the regular season and we really didn't see the tight end start to reach a consistent stride of production until the second half of the season.

LaPorta had under 50 receiving yards in seven of his first 10 games played in 2024. He had over 50 yards receiving in five of his last six games played, including the playoff loss, with a season-best seven receptions for 111 yards against Buffalo mid-December.

Detroit didn't get a lot of production from the position outside of LaPorta and Wright. LaPorta only missed one game this season due to injury, but what if they were without him for an extended period of time? Do they have enough depth at the position?

Key stat: In Week 18, LaPorta set the record for the most receptions by a tight end through two career seasons in NFL history with 146, topping Keith Jackson's previous record of 144.

Free agents: Shane Zylstra (restricted)

After signing to the practice squad following training camp, Zylstra was eventually signed to the active roster, winning the third tight end role midway through the season. The Lions like his versatility and special teams prowess. He played just 13 percent of the offensive snaps (109) but was a core special teamer, playing 59 percent of Detroit's special teams reps.

Draft: Detroit is pretty set at tight end after selecting LaPorta in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft and matching the offer sheet for Wright last offseason. They are the top two and expect to go into 2025 in those roles.

That doesn't mean Lions general manager Brad Holmes can't look to add depth and competition in this year's draft, but it currently isn't a priority.

This is a pretty talented and deep group of tight ends coming out this year led by Tyler Warren (Penn State), Colston Loveland (Michigan), Mason Taylor (LSU), Elijah Arroyo (Miami), Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green) and Gunnar Helm (Texas). It's one of the deeper tight end groups to come out in recent years.

Quotable: "I'll have to go back at the end of the year and look at why it didn't click sooner," former Lions offensive coordinator and current Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson said of LaPorta in early January. "I really felt like early in the year we were going to have some of the games he's had the last few. I know he's feeling as healthy as he has all year long.

"He's playing confident football right now. I know Jared (Goff) has a lot of faith in him. I certainly felt that way earlier in the year, too. I can't tell you why it's different now than it was before, but we've always seen him as an integral part of what we do in the passing game and the ball just seems to be finding its way there right now."