On Wednesday, the Chicago Bears held their final practice before training camp begins on July 26th. Every player, even the rookies now, is officially on summer break.
But the 2024 NFL season will be here before you know it, and the NFC North will be one of the most hotly contested divisions in the league.
With that in mind, I considered what an NFC North superteam could look like. Leave your thoughts in the comments (or your own superteam) in the comments below.
Offense
Quarterback: Jared Goff (Detroit)
I have Goff in a virtual tie with Jordan Love, so I leaned toward experience as the tiebreaker.
Running Back: Aaron Jones (Minnesota)
Wide Receivers: Justin Jefferson (Minnesota), DJ Moore (Chicago), Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit)
The NFC North might feature the best wide receiver group in the NFL.
Tight End: TJ Hockenson (Minnesota)
Offensive Line: Christian Darrisaw (Minnesota), Elgton Jenkins (Green Bay), Frank Ragnow (Detroit), Kevin Zietler (Detroit), Penei Sewell (Detroit)
I almost gave Detroit a clean sweep of the offensive line but I like Darrisaw just slightly more than Taylor Decker and Jenkins more than Graham Glasgow.
Defense
Defensive End: Montez Sweat (Chicago), Aiden Hutchinson (Detroit)
Defensive Tackle: Kenny Clark (Green Bay), Alim McNeill (Detroit)
McNeill has been something of a secret weapon for Detroit. If he keeps this pace up, he won't be the most underrated player on his team for much longer.
Linebacker: TJ Edwards (Chicago), Tremaine Edmunds (Chicago), Jonathan Greenard (Minnesota)
This was another position group where I nearly gave the entire line to one team. Greenard beats out Jack Sanborn from Chicago by just a hair.
Cornerback: Jaylon Johnson (Chicago), Jaire Alexander (Green Bay)
Safety: Kevin Byard (Chicago), Xavier McKinney (Green Bay)
Special Teams
Kicker: Cairo Santos (Chicago)
Punter: Tory Taylor (Chicago)
I tried to avoid putting rookies on this list since they are inherently unproven. But no one else in the division has a punter with the kind of potential of Tory Taylor. And if there's any position that should see a relatively smooth transition to the NFL, it's punter.
Kick Returner: Keisan Nixon (Green Bay)
The back-to-back All-Pro kick returner is the obvious choice for this one. Many people are looking forward to what Nixon can do with the new kickoff return rules in 2024.
Punt Returner: Brandon Powell (Minnesota)
Final Tally
Detroit: 7
Minnesota: 6
Green Bay: 5
Chicago: 8
Looking at just the numbers, we see that Chicago has the most players on this list. Some will take exception to that, citing how Chicago finished last in the division last year, but there's more to the numbers than meets the eye. For one, two of Chicago's eight names are the kicker and the punter. Important in their own right, but not as important as having the best quarterback, which goes to Detroit.
And for two, this is about looking ahead to the future, not the past. And the Bears have, according to some NFL analysts, improved more than any other team in the league this offseason. It's all meaningless speculation until the season starts, but right now, on paper, the Bears have a good shot of becoming the 2024 NFC North Champions.
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