Okay, who's Norris?

All kidding aside, a great article. Much better than the one yesterday slamming the other north teams selections.

The Bears, I think they finally got it right. I think they made by and large, great selections including Tory Taylor in the 4th round. A lot of people think that is too early but he definitely is an upgrade for them and isn't that what we are trying to do as well with the draft or build depth.

The lions are getting pretty savey. Gone are the days when they would bungle selections. They now know what they want and they go after it and have been pretty successful.

The Vikings used to scare me every time we played them as they had that great defense and key offensive players. Now it appears they very well could be the last place team in the NFC North.

Overall, we strengthened ourselves in areas of need and although this draft was not as sexy as the last two years, we did pick up some studs and great depth pieces. As good as Chicago and Detroit should be this year, we will have a tough schedule just within our division. I am glad we have gute as our GM!

Agreed that this article is much better than the one that slammed the other teams' picks. I am good with the Packers being in a competitive division.

I have great confidence the Bears will find a way to screw up Caleb Williams - they have every other QB they've drafted since Jim McMahon. The Bears - "where quarterbacks go to die".

Detroit is the new enemy in the NFC North.

Cory, "a punter in the fourth round seems like a bit much". This is the most far-sighted the Bears have ever been. They know they're going to have to punt all the time. May as well lead the league in punt attempts. Have to have a fresh leg for that. It's great that they got their new QB some considerable weapons. Remains to be seen if they fixed their O-line enough for them to have an effect.

Minesota has to like a young QB who only lost one game since high school. Did he lose in high school even?

Health at the end will be the difference between the Lions and the Packers. Been too long since the Packers had home games and a win streak in the playoffs.

There's been a lot of praise for the Bears after the draft, but it's hard to screw things up when you have the #1 and #9 pick. That organization still has a lot to prove.

Let the battle begin

"Remember when the Packers could circle the Lions and Bears as no doubt wins when the schedule came out every spring? "

Remember when the teams in the NFCN used to play outside? With the Bears' proposal of an enclosed stadium, it could just be the Packers.

Yep. Good article, Cory. All teams got better not only in the NFC North, but all 32 teams. They all get better in the offseason. Then the season starts and we see who got better better than the others.

Most teams seasons hinge on injuries, hopefully we don't have any major ones this year. We are building depth and strengthening every position group to make ourselves a complete team. This year could come down to doing the little things right, like on special teams where we were not so good last year. With the talent GB has amassed, the future looks very "BRIGHT GREEN!" GPG

Many talented young players have landed in the NFC North, but it's a team sport and a very long season. Can KOC effectively coach-up a rookie QB in Minnesota? Can Dan Campbell deny is instincts and get out of his own way to let the Lions continue to improve? Can the collective brain trust in Chicago not trip on their dicks and drive off a cliff again? Will the illusion of complexity and an aggressive D in Green Bay become a consistent reality?

Maybe the NFC North has arrived, or maybe Elvis has left the building. Whatever the Magic 8 ball may say, it feels good to be looking forward.

Every year fans believe in April. None of it is real. The vast majority of round one QBs never sign a second deal with the team that drafted them and it’s even more true of draft picks as a whole.

One thing is the amount of future draft capital given up in the division. In the Vikings case I think it was desperation to save jobs, for the Bears and Lions I think they think they’ve arrived.

The Lions might have a little better basis for that away from paper and draft hype, but the end of last year should be a warning. Their problems at CB were real, but not the ultimate issue. They have Goff, so their OL remains extremely critical. Can it return to and maintain the consistent excellence that made them tick into mid last year? If not, the CBs won’t help much. The Bears and the Vikings are heavily dependent on their QB investments.

We forget that, for all his talent, the first pick in this draft is probably going to have to adjust fairly significantly in an NFL environment. I still don’t like their D, despite additions. The Vikings QB pick is a risk on paper if ever there was one. They added a rusher that is good but essentially a replacement for one lost. We will see, but it’s as likely that the Vikings are looking at a new leadership team in a year as celebrating anything.

As to us, we know we have a talented O. Our run game may not be as spectacular in terms of highs but it may well be better over the season and consistently contribute within games. Our QB has shown he belongs and potentially more than that. This year he should have a better OL, especially in the middle. The second great question is Hafley and how his D works (it’s going to take half a season to bed in properly most likely) and what it does to ignite rekindle talent.

I like where we are. I like Love’s upside, the talent and options on O and what I think the Hafley D will unlock among our defensive talent. Now it’s time to see how all these 4 jigsaws actually look on a field not merely draft-hype infused paper. It’s possible the North will be a powerhouse, but it’s also possible Minnesota becomes the new Lions and that Chicago has again pinned its hopes on one man who it will subsequently bury while the Lions coach turns out to have been decoded by the league.

Looking forward to focusing on our players over the summer. We got deeper, hopefully that translates to better. One of the best aspects of this draft is that I can see potential contributions early from picks right through to King. That would be huge if correct.

Worrying about others is about as fruitful as banking on strength of schedule to predict the coming season in the NFL. Let’s hope our competition is real and fierce and merit wins out.

I actually like slamming the other teams. I'd much rather read articles trashing the opponents instead of our own front office and players. In fact, somebody should write a weekly column during the season called "Trash Talk.", done in the Don Rickles style, where we lampoon our opponent that week.

I get that everybody is optimistic about their team and their players at this time of year. But let's not forget who's King of the (NFC North) Jungle.

The Packers have won 17 division titles in the last 30 years, and 8 of the last 13. All the other teams in that division have combined for 13 titles, 4 since our last Super Bowl. We have the best QB in the division this year. We've improved the #10 scoring defense (at least in theory).

Lions win fewer than 12, Bears improve on 7-10, Vikings collapse to the basement, and the Packers improve on 9-8.

I think we're the strongest and most well-rounded team in the Division: best quarterback, excellent OL, insane depth at receiver, top-five RB backed up by a very promising rookie, a young but already experienced team that demolished the Cowboys, and a defense that should be significantly better (CB depth and pass rush may be our only issues to begin the season though not glaring).

We're not getting an A for the draft from any of the "experts," but this was a sensible, constructive draft with some young men like Cooper and Bullard, who are big hitters and potential All-Pros. Who doesn't like this team?

"Remember when the Packers could circle the Lions and Bears as no doubt wins when the schedule came out every spring?
Those days are over."

Are they though? Sure a few days after the draft everyone has their honeymoon glasses on. But in the very near future we will start to remove those glasses to look at what we really have. And sometimes what we really have isn't the excitement of the party. Its the reality of life.

Bears -
Yes they took the best prospect at QB. While Williams I think likely will be good, not every highly rated prospect comes into the league and tears it up. They do have some good/decent pieces around him. But the talent that they added isn't flawless either.

Something else that I brought up yesterday in another chat was that the Bears traded away a 4th round pick next year to get a 5th round pick this year.

Vikings-
Vikings traded up 1 spot giving up a 4th and 5th round pick, and got back a 6th round pick. For a QB that is equivalent to Mr Irrelevant? I don't know how good McCarthy will be. Lets be realistic too about Purdy. How good would he be on the Bears or Vikings teams? Purdy is great because he has the most innovative playcaller in the league. And they have great talent around him. Take away that talent and how good is Purdy? If McCarthy needs that talent to be good, is he that good?
Also the Vikings traded away their 3rd and 4th round picks next year.

Lions -
They went back to back at CB. Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. Arnold a lot of people considered the best CB in the draft. Good pick for them. Rakestraw though tested poorly. How will he handle NFL caliber WR's. I do believe the Lions will be the hardest team to play against in the North. But they also sacrificed their future for this draft. They gave up 2 picks next year as well.

I think the division has improved, but at the end of the day I feel like its a 2 team race. And i feel like our team is ready to show the league who we are!

I too believe and have said many times, the NFC North has quietly become the best division in the NFL. San Fran was plain lucky to reach the SB—both the Packers and Lions outplayed them.
Had Savage caught the sure Int/return for TD, we might have routed the 9’rs—they were hanging on to their pants at that point.
In any case, I believe you count the blue chippers on each team/division and that gives you an idea where they stand.
Go Packers!!!

Let's pump the brakes here a bit. The Vikes and Bears both drafted QB's. But there is a reason the Bears haven't had a decent QB since Sid Luck. They don't know how to develop one. Also, from an outside perspective, I can already see Caleb's dad getting involved in decision making, criticizing the team, and otherwise being a disruptive force. As for McCarthy, we'll see. The bust rate for first round QB's is very high. Maybe he'll be the exception. And as far as the defensive players, like all college players, there is almost always a steep learning curve.
Meanwhile, when the schedule comes out, I'm still circling the Bears games as wins for the Packers. This will continue until the Bears show some ability to beat the Packers consistently, something they haven't done for literally decades. The deed to Soldier Field was handed from Favre to Rodgers, who then passed it on to Love. Besides, the Bears still suck. Always have, always will. Amen.

Marshawn Lloyd is also my favorite pick; succession plan in place.

An interesting tidbit from ESPN last night: The Bears all-time receiving leader in terms of yardage is someone named Johnny Morris, who totaled a little over 5000 yards. He played mostly in the 1960's. So if Odunze is a good selection, he should be able to shatter that...I just thought it was a fun illustration that shows how far the Bears have been behind the curve insofar as constructing a modern offense...The Packers have 14 receivers that have exceeded Morton's total!

I'm circling Vikings and Bear games as wins and we split with the Lions. That's five in the division.

The part that I didn't mention in my previous post was about GB.

While we are talking about not being able to circle as wins each year, those teams can't circle GB as an easy win post Rodgers.

Last year was Loves first year as a starter. It started out good went down for a bit and then the light bulb went off and it was like watching a 10 year All Pro. I will say that if he continues where he started last year that will be his future.

From last years team we did lose a quite a bit. We lost Jones, Bakhtiari, Campbell, Savage, Runyan, Yosh, Owens, Deguara, Patrick Taylor.
Jones is the biggest loss. He was the main focal point of our offense. He will be missed no question. Bakhtiari at his top is better then everyone else. But he has missed a ton of time the last few years, so we are basically used to not having him anyways. Campbell has not been as good as his first year in GB. Savage and Runyan started a lot of games, but were flawed.

Even though we lost some very good players, we have improved our team immensely this offseason.
First they went out and got McKinney. He is one of the best Safety's in the league and instantly improves our defense. To go along with him, they went and drafted 3 Safety's. We will have to see who can win the starting role and how they plan to use them, but they definitely improved the talent there.
Next they brought in Josh Jacobs. He was the rushing champ 2 years ago. Now he comes to an explosive offense and a system that is one of the best in the league. I think he is going to really put up good numbers. But not only did they bring in Jacobs, he also brought in Lloyd. This is my sleeper best pick of the draft. I say sleeper because I think getting Lloyd and adding his explosive running style to our offense will put our offense over the top. He will provide a new element that teams really haven't seen from GB's offense.

I think 2 of the OL drafted have a chance to start right away. Morgan and Monk I think have a chance to start right away. I think Morgan could start at LT right away, but will depend on his technique getting cleaned up. Walker was good last year, but don't forget that he got benched after his play wasn't good. He improved after that. And I think Monk could start at RG right away. Rhyan was rotating in with Runyan.
Cooper I think will instantly make our defense better. Him and Walker together I think will instantly form one of the best duo's in the league. His ability to recognize and attack is insane. Mike Wahle called him a War Dog. I love that.

All the reasons for the improvement isn't just based on the new players they brought in. Its the players they have improving. The last 2 drafts were insanely good. The biggest jumps players make are from years 1 to 2 and 2 to 3. Well all of these players we should be expecting a rise in play. All of these players were already key players for them.
2022- Walker, Wyatt, Watson, Rhyan, Doubs, Tom, Walker. Enagbare? (don't know injury impact yet)
2023- Van Ness, Musgrave, Reed, Kraft, Wooden, Wicks, Brooks, Carlson, Valentine.
Also there are some other players that could take a big jump. Melton, Heath, Johnson, Whelan, Johnson.

With those players combined, that is 22 players. That's basically half the team. All of which we should see improvements from. That is scary for other teams.

And one more reason why teams should be worried. We got ourselves a defensive coordinator that is no longer going to sit back with CB's 10 yards off the ball routinely. We have a guy that is going to be more aggressive. Barry was rated as one of the worst DC's in the league. Hafley can immediately change that. We have the talent.

All this adds up to a lot of excitement for us Packers fans. But it should put a lot of fear into the North teams!

The NFC North played an easy schedule last year, this year it is about middle of the road siding to a little difficult. These things are fluid but last year all the teams felt good after the year and that tends to be because the schedule was easier than what other division see. Just look at the NFC East the year before. Eagles where dominate, Cowboys looked like contenders, Giants thought they had a QB and even Washington had 7 or 8 wins and a lot of that turned to dust this year.

Bears IMO are still the Bears. Williams is a better prospect then Fields but I am far from sold on him. His attitude that he has already arrived turns me off and I feel he is a little to self centered to see the full picture. They still have a weak OL and their D while improved still has many holes.

Vikings just over drafted a 2nd or 3rd round prospect. Happens so often when a draft is deep with QBs, franchises start seeing franchise QBs around every corner. Look at past drafts and you will see this trend. Be lucky if more than 1 of these pans out and I thought Maye was the guy to take. I like the big tall passer with a rocket arm, said the same thing in '18 when Mayfield was picked over Allen.

Lions are good. Solid team and will go as far as Goff and their gambling coach will take them. They should have won the NFC last year but their coach refused to go up 3 possessions in the 2nd half because it would mean kicking a FG. There is a ceiling on what Goff can provide you but they might have enough around him. Have to be the favorites to win the North again.

For the Packers it all boils down to Love. Had a great 1st year under center but he has a ton to work on with his game. DCs will now have a years worth of film to break down all his mechanical flaws and he has a few of them. Those throws off the back foot down the middle of the field will start to be turnovers if he doesn't clean it up. If he does Green Bay struck gold again. He has arm strength in spades and better than average athletic ability. Has to work on foot work and his release to stop spraying the ball all over the place. Showed last year he can be great, now show you can be it every week.

North will probably take step back in Ws but that doesn't mean they aren't moving forward, Green Bay included.

One thing that should improve for GB with the addition of legit O-Line players is short yardage 1st Down conversions. The failed 3rd and 4th downs cost them vs SF and really throughout last season. I'm hoping the new guys will solve that issue. Keep drives going and grind defenses into submission.

Bears are terrible up front on both sides of the ball. 7 win team if they're lucky. And Vikings wont be any better. Its gonna come down to Packers and Lions.

After most drafts over the three decades I read about how the bares crushed the draft...the Ugly Purple made grade A selections, and the lions have finally arrived.

Meanwhile, over that time, the Packers have sent Favre to the HOF, have a sure lock HOFer in waiting in Rodgers, and a rising star in Love. And appeared in 3 Super Bowls, winning 2 (bares did once in 2007 and lost).

Marshawn Lloyd hasn't proven to be a great NFL back like Jones yet, but he sure has all the potential to be as good. A little practice at blocking will make him a really complete RB. I don't get as hung up on tbe blocking as some posters do. Realistically, how many times per games and per season will he actually have to block? Very few top RBs come into the NFL with blocking listed as a strength because most haven't been asked to do that in high school or college. Their main jobs were to gain yards running & receiving, and score TDs, period.

This first year his goals should be 500 yards rushing & 300 yards receiving. And to HANG ON TO THE BALL. Lloyd & Jacobs should be a great 1-2 punch for GB.

The Viking replace an older, good but not great QB, with a talented rookie. McCarthy was a decent QB on a traditionally great Michigan team that really put it all together the last 2 years. That can make a QB look better than they really are. Being an Iowa and Big 10 fan, I saw McCarthy make great and not so great throws the last 2 years. He was bailed out by a great OL and RBs the last 2 years. He has a big learning curve ahead.

The Bears got a new talented QB in the draft. And they improved the talent around him. The OL will hold him back more than anything. Odunze is a great young talent @ WR for the Bears, but I am almost glad they didn't trade back with the #9 pick because they could have gotten a top OL and a Top 10 WR to boot with the extra picks they would have received. Williams reminds me somewhat of Jamies Winston coming out of college. Hopefully he has the same turnover issues caused by trying to do too much.

The Lions also have an older, getting more immobile by the year, QB. And the longer he plays, the older their already old backup Hooker QB gets. They have a good team, but so do we.

All of the NFC North games will be well earned wins. It will come down to the team's best players being available to play, like it always does. Stokes returning to form and Sean Rhyan reaching his potential would be huge bonuses for the Packer this year. Also fixing the entire inconsistent kicking game will be a big factor in our 2024 success.

The Detroit lions own this sorry division, packers are going to fall HARD this year