Is Max Klare the Next Sam LaPorta? 2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report & SPS Grade

Updated May 19, 2026

Sam LaPorta was the 34th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Iowa, taken by Detroit in Round 2 to be a reliable option for Jared Goff and become the Lions’ featured tight end on Day 1. He set the modern rookie-TE bar with 86 receptions on a record-setting Pro Bowl debut. The Los Angeles Rams just selected Max Klare with the No. 61 overall pick in Round 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft. The 6’4.125″, 246-pound tight end finished his career with 116 receptions for 1,329 yards and 6 touchdowns between a breakout 2024 at Purdue (51 catches, 685 yards, 4 TDs) into a First-Team All-Big Ten finish at Ohio State in 2025 (43 catches, 448 yards, 2 TDs). Now that the Round 2 capital is on the table and the landing spot is set, the LaPorta comp is a measurable trajectory.

Klare’s Time In Columbus

Klare arrived in Columbus as a high-profile transfer-portal addition and held his own as a security blanket in an offense headlined by first-round receiver talents like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. He never put up monster receiving lines as the third option, but the consensus from scouts who studied his tape was that the receiving traits can travel into the NFL with him: Klare is a route-running, hands-catcher tight end whose value is tied to underneath separation more than blocking grit. The Rams just paid for that film with the back end of Round 2. But will Klare’s analytics share the same sentiment as those film analysts, and will he score high enough to make the top 10 all-time TE SPS list?

The Film Breakdown: Pros & Cons

We all should be looking at both film and analytics as we know they go hand-in-hand. The following consensus film critiques are derived from looks into Klare’s game film. These highlight the positive and negative traits Los Angeles just bought into with a Round 2 pick:

The Pros (The “Elite” Upside)

• Natural Hands and YAC Vision: Klare is a “natural hands catcher who plucks the ball away from his frame” with “smooth and fluid movement in and out of breaks.” Once the ball is secured, he shows above-average power and elusiveness as a runner after the catch. (Steelers Depot)
• Above-Average Movement Skills for the Position: FantasyPros calls him “a relatively smooth mover who has above-average speed for the position as a receiver” who “catches the ball pretty well away from his frame, with a relatively sturdy pair of hands.” That LaPorta-style underneath separation profile is the foundation of the comp, and it is exactly the trait that travels from Big Ten film to a McVay Tight End room. (FantasyPros)
• Route-Stem Nuance and Seam Speed: Klare “showcases route-stem nuance to read defenders’ leverage and manipulate body position,” and is described as an “explosive seam threat who gets on second level defenders in a hurry.” (Bleacher Report)

The Cons (The Refinement Needs)

• In-Line Blocking Is the Swing Trait: Steelers Depot writes that Klare’s “blocking is inconsistent when in-line” because his thin lower half “lacks functional strength and leg drive,” and that he “cannot consistently hold up one-on-one against NFL-caliber edge defenders.” (Steelers Depot)
• Limited Pass-Pro Reps and Tight Man-Coverage Wins: FantasyPros notes Klare “wasn’t retained much in pass protection over the course of his career” and “can struggle to create separation against man” given limited burst out of his breaks. That projects to early-down work being situational. (FantasyPros)

For dynasty managers, the LaPorta comparison is not a clean Year-1 read because the landing spots are not similar enough. LaPorta walked into a Detroit room with no incumbent and was the TE1 from his first practice, finishing as the rookie-TE record holder. Klare walks into a deeper Sean McVay group: per the Rams depth chart, Colby Parkinson is TE1, Tyler Higbee is TE2, and the now sophomore Terrance Ferguson sits TE3 ahead of him. If the McVay offense shows more 12 personnel, this should give Klare a snap share even as TE4, but the LaPorta-style 80-catch rookie ceiling is not realistic. The fantasy upside is the long view: Parkinson and Higbee are veterans on the back end of their windows, and the Rams spent meaningful Day-2 capital here for a reason. The local beat coverage backed that up: Turf Show Times wrote that the Rams selected Klare to be part of their present and future.

What Is Max Klare’s SPS Grade?

For those of you who aren’t familiar, The Star-Predictor Score (SPS) is a scouting tool designed to maximize investment potential and reduce risks when drafting rookies in Fantasy Football. It is proven to have a higher accuracy than draft capital alone to predict fantasy football success. The SPS includes 13 to 17 metrics, with the exact number varying by the player’s position. All metrics are pre-NFL – and some are proprietary to BrainyBallers – providing a complete analysis of a player’s analytical profile. The SPS gained widespread notoriety for its high accuracy, having made it on Barstool and The Pat McAfee Show. The SPS database can be found here, and future projected SPS grades can be unlocked here.

As the Pat McAfee crew noted when reviewing our top 10 all-time prospects graphic: “They haven’t missed… those are all the guys they predicted would be stars and they hit on all of them.” 

The Verdict

Can Max Klare follow Sam LaPorta from Day-2 receiving tight end into a featured fantasy weapon now that Los Angeles has staked Pick 61 on him? The film points to the same archetype that turned LaPorta into a rookie record-holder. The landing spot is more crowded than LaPorta’s was at the same career start point with Parkinson, Higbee, and Ferguson all sitting ahead on the depth chart. Although, the veteran Tight Ends on the back end of their career gives Klare a clear runway into 2027 once the room turns over. Dynasty managers betting on the LaPorta comp are paying for the long arc, not the rookie season. The Star-Predictor Score measures the 13-17 pre-NFL metrics that separate dynasty TE1s from dynasty TE3s, independent of all subjectivity. The answer to where Klare’s official SPS grade falls is one click away. Is his profile built for the long haul?