00:01seven straight batters would reach an unraveling as Valdez doesn't make it
00:05out of the first inning Tigers get stomped shut out through the first eight
00:10innings chance to win the series later tonight eight o'clock on ESPN by the
00:16way we'll talk a little more about Jeff Passan and the latest with Tarek
00:21Scoogle at 635 Sam Laporta good news yes as he's coming back from an injury
00:28he's expected to be full go at training camp right yes he is got that news
00:33yesterday and we kind of anticipated that he would be you know give or take a
00:38week or so depending on how they're gonna handle the injury but if he's full go it
00:42really does add to this offense that we think is is going to be a much more
00:49dominant and be able to do what they want to do when they want to do it all type
00:53of offense yeah the reporting from Jeremy Fowler Sam Laporta herniated disc fully
00:58cleared setting him up for training camp I don't know if people have slept on
01:02just how important Sam Laporta is for this offense but I got a couple numbers
01:06to throw at you okay I think it's pretty obvious a team that wants to run the ball
01:09and play action pass needs a good tight end but let me show you exactly how much
01:13he's meant to this team they're 32 and 10 with him four and five without him over
01:20his career he's worth about an extra field goal a game last season he was worth a
01:25touchdown per game 31 points with him 24 points without him it stands to reason
01:31you want to be better on fourth and one third and two you want to move the sticks
01:35you want to finish drives you need a tight end that can run block and be that safety
01:41that that safety security blanket for Jared Goff yes I mean he is a guy that he's a
01:46unique tight end because he can be a guy that can set the edge backside I'd like to
01:50see a little bit more but that's just me being a nerd but defenses have to operate
01:57differently when Sam Laporta is a threat he is a much different threat than Brock
02:03Wright Tyler Conklin anyone else that they're going to throw in there this season
02:08or you know over the last few years when when he has been unavailable when he is out
02:13there you do have that threat of okay we've got to be able to your edge has to be good
02:20enough to defeat a tight end but they also have to be real they have to realize that edge
02:25can't just sit there and play the run thinking well okay like Brock Wright he's more of a
02:29of a run blocker I don't care if he releases now all of a sudden if my attention is okay
02:36he's
02:36blocking me but it could he could you know throw me off and run out into a pass and then
02:41create some damage there so now all of a sudden my attention isn't just on the run it's linebackers
02:45how he affects the linebackers the strong safety how he affects him so it does affect what defenses
02:52are willing to risk if he's in the game well it's trade-offs it's why you want to have
02:57complimentary pass catchers like JMO is the one that pushes the safeties back yeah Laporta in part
03:02is the one that moves those linebackers around you know St. Brown's doing deep digs and can run
03:07every route in the tree but having those guys at every level of the defense yeah that's something
03:12they really missed I said it a while ago I think Laporta might be one of the more underappreciated
03:17athletes we have in this city because he's not the top weapon he's a guy that still needs a contract
03:22but he's a guy that's been critically important to playing the way they want to play and winning
03:26games and if he shows that he is healthy and can you know take some hits I think we see
03:32a contract
03:33for him throughout the course of the season and so yeah he is he's vitally important to this team
03:39and he's a guy that he's a tight end a lot of tight ends you say well okay they're a
03:44middle threat
03:45or if they're more of a pass catching tight end and they don't have much of effect in the run
03:50game
03:50well then you see those guys split out they're never attached to the line of scrimmage and they're
03:55more threats on the edge he's a guy that is a threat anywhere on the field to catch and also
04:01create
04:01after he catches the ball when he hit the ground running as a rookie in part because they don't
04:05play tight ends like him in college anymore a lot of the productive college tight ends aren't inline
04:12blockers yeah they're like big receivers the play like a big slot and even some of the guys that
04:18were drafted this year kenyan sadiq is more of that guy right um stowers out of vanderbilt the top
04:23tight ends are often pass catchers first run blockers maybe someday laporta's both and that that is a
04:30commodity well especially in this style of offense when you have the play action pass that sets it up
04:36for hey tight end present run and then release when that defensive end commits or when you see that
04:44linebacker and and there's a there's an art to it as there is in every position but the art is
04:49when do
04:50I release if some guys don't have that timing they don't have that awareness of when a linebacker
04:56commits to the run or when a linebacker's got his eyes on you and all of a sudden hey he
05:00takes his
05:00eyes off now you're gone it's that there is an art because you still have to be able to block
05:05at the
05:05same time right I mean you know it as an offensive line you have to sell run first yeah and
05:10sometimes
05:10you can't see it it is an awareness of watching film and then a feel for where how the play
05:16is is
05:17is opening up it's a good box to check good news on sam laporta yeah
