Post Draft- NFC North

I remember many times we were the favorite and didn't win the division. Injuries, refs, and luck are much larger factors that decide the winner than players and talent.

Bears are most eye-opening to me; Will promise be fulfilled?
- When?
- They certainly look to have foundational pieces on offense.
- It'll take time to jell.

GB - still not sure how high the ceiling is for Love.
- Solid team, coach, culture.
- Caught Dallas at the right time.
- Not NFC elite, not yet imo.

DET - weird to say it, a top 4 nfc team??

Vikes
- hopefully competitive in 24 but they have Sam Darnold starting
- I see 6-8 wins.
- D will be better/offense wont be.
- If all goes to plan, a big leap in 2025
- JJM at the helm and an embarrassment of cap space to add pieces.

purplefaithful wrote:
Bears are most eye-opening to me; Will promise be fulfilled?  - When? - They certainly look to have foundational pieces on offense. - It'll take time to jell.

GB - still not sure how high the ceiling is for Love.
- Solid team, coach, culture.
- Caught Dallas at the right time.
- Not NFC elite, not yet imo.

DET - weird to say it, a top 4 nfc team??

Vikes
- hopefully competitive in 24 but they have Sam Darnold starting
- I see 6-8 wins.
- D will be better/offense wont be.
- If all goes to plan, a big leap in 2025
- JJM at the helm and an embarrassment of cap space to add pieces.

It's going to be a battle because all these teams are loaded with talent and built for the long haul. Watching them square up against each other every week is going to be must see TV

I think it will be a very competitive division with the Lions favorites, and the Bears, Vikings and Packers fighting it out for 2nd. 

Lions are very good on paper and I love what they've done with their OL and secondary. They'll be the team to beat. But they're one Amon-Ra injury away from having zero WRs. And let's not forget Marcus Davenport is their starting defensive end. 

Packers are all about Love. Is he the guy we saw first half of last year? Or the guy we saw the 2nd half? Not sold on the WR/TEs, and I think Morgan was a big reach in the 1st round, but I think they upgraded Jones with Jacobs. 

Caleb Williams could dominate the NFL next year...or turn the ball over so much he's benched. But this is a better team all around than they were last year. 

Vikings are all about Darnold. It's easily the best offense in the division with competent QB play. I think Darnold will have his best season ever but this is not Kirk Cousins. My biggest fear is the team being tempted or pressured to put in the rookie. RESIST.

StickierBuns wrote:
I hope Viking's fans understand this is going to be a transition year: 6 to 8 wins. Minnesota kept their 2025 1st round pick which is huge. Tons of cap space to fill voids next year. Something like 40% of the roster will be new this year to the team?

Vikings need to hit on JJM as the starter for 2025, hit on their 1st round pick next year and rock free agency to legitimately stay with the rest of the thoroughbreds in the NFCN moving forward. The encouraging part is they've set themselves up for success and to do just that. A nice FA DT will be a priority next offseason (they tried this year). Fingers crossed, but you don't need purple-colored glasses to see the potential.
But this is going to be an up and down year. Don't lose focus on what the plan is and that its coming very soon. They are setting the culture that they want.

I just checked out the list of potential free agent DT's in 2025....not a good list

purplefaithful wrote:
Bears are most eye-opening to me; Will promise be fulfilled?  - When? - They certainly look to have foundational pieces on offense. - It'll take time to jell.

GB - still not sure how high the ceiling is for Love.
- Solid team, coach, culture.
- Caught Dallas at the right time.
- Not NFC elite, not yet imo.

DET - weird to say it, a top 4 nfc team??
Top 4 in the NFL actually.
Vikes
- hopefully competitive in 24 but they have Sam Darnold starting
- I see 6-8 wins.
- D will be better/offense wont be.
- If all goes to plan, a big leap in 2025
- JJM at the helm and an embarrassment of cap space to add pieces.

supafreak84 wrote:

I just checked out the list of potential free agent DT's in 2025....not a good list

It has to be the #1 draft pick next year. Looks like a better high end DT draft in 25. Use FA to buy some guards after another Ingram and whoever shit show in 24.

kmillard wrote:

It has to be the #1 draft pick next year. Looks like a better high end DT draft in 25. Use FA to buy some guards after another Ingram and whoever shit show in 24.

It's really been crazy the massive drop off in defensive tackle talent over the last 5 years or so when it comes to the draft. I don't think college programs are preparing them or developing their overall games anymore. Instead they are just asking them to essentially be space eaters in these odd fronts and not do much else. I look at what Byron Murphy was asked to do at Texas and that's commonplace anymore. I also think it's a big reason why good defensive tackles aren't hitting the market because when teams have a good one, they want to keep them. The Vikings are going to need to draft someone at that position and I hope there is one available worthy of the pick

On paper we'll finish last in the division. Not ideal going into year 3 of a new regime, when in theory the pieces should be aligning, but we're likely a year away from that. And that's fine. Re-sign Jets, keep Darrisaw happy, develop JJM, your DBs, and next offseason load up the line on both sides of the ball and the RB room.

Eric Eager put it best - they failed the competitive part of the competitive rebuild and found themselves suddenly looking up at the rest of the division.

Kwesi swung for the fences last week because there isn't really any other option, certainly not one that has a shot at keeping him in the g.m. chair longer than a couple more years.

pattersaur wrote:
On paper we'll finish last in the division. Not ideal going into year 3 of a new regime, when in theory the pieces should be aligning, but we're likely a year away from that. And that's fine. Re-sign Jets, keep Darrisaw happy, develop JJM, your DBs, and next offseason load up the line on both sides of the ball and the RB room.

I agree with this and am okay with it as long as the trajectory for McCarthy and the rest of the young players on the roster is pointing up. I guess my fear would be that all three of the other teams in the division are poised to make long runs themselves with the young talent each has accumulated, so it's going to be a real dog fight to win the division these next five years or so and I can see the division routinely sending two, maybe three teams to the playoffs

StickierBuns wrote:

I guess the major part of why I don't agree with this are the massive injuries the team incurred last year, including the starting QB. The opponents of the 'competitive rebuild' always conveniently leave this out. The team was fighting for a playoff spot almost until the end with unbelievable injury turnover. Safe to assume without all of those injuries, its a playoff team. Easily.

I think it's a "maybe" we would have made the playoffs. Let's not forget we were beaten at home by a Brandon Staley coached Chargers team when we had both Cousins and Jefferson playing. My contention was always that we never evaluated the roster realistically and bent to the competitive ideals of the Wilfs. I'm happy with this draft, but in hindsight would we have been better off trading Hunter and Cousins while they were tradable assets for draft capital? My answer was always "absolutely YES" because I never thought we were legitimate contenders with them anyways the last two seasons. The additional draft picks would have been helpful in continuing to address holes on this roster with young talent.

I know this; we were upset many times by back-up QBs that many cannot even remember their names. But I know a few like Cooper Rush, who has done nothing since, and the back-up for Mahomes a few years ago, see I forgot his name. Also, here is a really big one - Danny Dimes with the help of Ed Donatell eliminated us in a home playoff game. Not to mention Bryce Young was just one of many rookie QBs that took us to the wire. So my point is that the game is not played on paper. We have a team that is very capable of winning now.