Predicting everything about the NFC North in 2023

all right EJ we're full of sushi and udon on this nice cloudy what is it Monday it's one of those days that ends in y I've lost track of time at this point it's Friday when this comes out in a few weeks uh we are wrapping up NFC North today we're making division predictions we're talking about best additions best draft picks and also uh in some cases what went wrong last year for uh for a few of the teams in this division so lots to go over today Jay roll the intro [Music] [Applause] welcome to the bootleg football podcast I'm Chris Brett Coleman here with my wonderful co-host EJ Snyder commuting down to LA from Seattle this time of year to go over every single Team every single division today is NFC North wrap-up day we are concluding the first full week of this series only seven more weeks to go I'm gonna think more about the first part than the second part it's a it's a marathon not a Sprint in a marathon that we have willingly extended every single year at this point uh when we first started this show we were taking things easy on ourselves only doing three hour podcasts then we had the wild idea of like oh let's just split it up into four it'll turn it into 45 minute episodes and then that turned into five hour plus long episodes we made even more work for ourselves but uh you know for whatever reason people still like like listening to this so here we are like third year doing this I think now correct uh again talking NFC North today uh we're gonna start off by talking about results last year to try to give some context for what we think going into this year obviously we did individual team episodes where we did deep dives into scheme and tendencies and every single Edition and subtraction so if you're an individual fan of MC North team go check that uh individual episode out as well to get even more of a deep dive we're kind of looking at the division as a whole today uh last year it was weird to say the least uh all these teams in terms of power score well most of these teams in terms of power score were very similar but had wildly different results yeah Minnesota had a very strange season we thought they were more of a mid team but they ended up with 13 wins won the division that was uh we called it Fool's Gold towards the later season predicted their early playoff demise really didn't think that win total sort of accurate accurately reflected their true power as a team Lions were second with nine wins Green Bay third with eight and Chicago brought up the rear with three of course earning the first overall pick in the draft the only playoff participant were the Vikings and in terms of late season surge teams teams that finished up strong both Detroit and Green Bay were four and one in their last five so teams that were sort of building um Green Bay has I would say larger changes the lions are really just looking to bolster the defense again if you want all those details check out the individual episodes but that's how the division shook out last year and that translated to their bootleg power score rankings if you've watched the individual episodes bootleg power score is something we've come up with to try and formulate how good is a team at playing football and we've sort of boiled that down to six measurements and then taken an average those averages work out to the Packers at 16 again keep in mind the lowest score is the best being number one kind of like golf score Packers were at 16. Vikings at 18 lions at 19 and then Bears dropped off at 24. so that's pretty representative it's our first shot at looking at how power score stacks for a division and then we decided to do a divisional power score and just add those four scores together so that we can compare division to division so you won't have very much context for this one but the division power score for the NFC North is 77 again Lower score is better you'll see next week when we get into the AFC North that scores a little bit lower slash higher a lower number meaning a higher score so we're going to be able to do this at the end of all these divisional rankings and stack the entire league based on powerscore and then look at divisional ranks one versus the other so um not a terribly powerful division overall a pretty balanced division with the exception of the Bears they beat each other up for the most part yep I will say this a lot of people might be looking and saying wait a minute the Packers had a better quote-unquote better power score than the Vikings of the Vikings at 13 wins um what gives if you look at the Packers last year in terms of a lot of different key metrics again we're doing uh rushing EPA passing EPA as well as Rush defense EPA past defense EPA you know points a lot points against differential all that kind of stuff like basically the key main numbers that represent offense defense and just can you score and stop other people from scoring they were better on average like they didn't translate it into wins because the Vikings just had weird fourth quarter Voodoo going on the entire year and credit the Vikings for that for sure and the Packers didn't really get their together until the last month and a half of the year but in that last month and a half of the year you know when they went on that four and one run they were a good enough team to drag their overall season long score better than Minnesota Packers did have their issues they had some pretty brutal key injuries that kind of stopped them from doing what they really wanted to do schematically but going into the year this year and if you watch the individual episodes I think that's that's pretty clear the Packers addressed their problems Personnel wise they are healthier going into this year as well even though they don't have Aaron Rodgers the roster itself You could argue is way better and it was already a good roster on paper they just had to deal with a lot of injuries if Jordan love is just average they're a better team than the Vikings we also thought the Vikings are going to be a good team too but I think this whole Narrative of the NFC North is going to have a down year I don't necessarily buy that because a the Bears were the worst team they're way better the Packers finished with the third record in the division they're way better the Vikings aren't worse and the Lions aren't worse this could end up being one of the best if not the best division in the NFC when all said and done even though these power scores are relatively average yeah and I think that in the conversation about power score versus win totals right we see this every year we see teams that are very talented and play very well and have some bad breaks whether it's with injury whether it's with game management whether it's just look it's not a round ball it bounces funny and they don't catch the bounces you know everybody says look they're a good team they're a strong team they're a powerful team and you know game management got away from them and they lost three maybe four games that they should have won that happens every year so power score we hope is more representative again because it is for your statistics for the entire year all 17 games that it is representative of overall they're pretty good at this or overall they're generally terrible at this but they got lucky in won more games and wins are still the thing you know don't get that don't get that twisted uh wins are still the thing at the end of the year but for everybody that says oh you know Vikings weren't flawed they were great How could a third team win team be flawed that's not great logic and we hope this evens it out a little bit now in terms of notable free agency additions most of these teams had pretty good you know March and early April free agency uh Seasons I guess you could call it Packers were the exception because really the only thing they did was was do a money dump through the Aaron Rodgers trade to save a bunch of future money they didn't really have cap space to be aggressive in free agency not that the Packers historically are super aggressive in free agency anyway they've had a couple years of it but it's not they're not a spendy team you know they typically like to spend on their own guys and so you know they're n a because they just didn't really spend money anymore just saved money whereas the other teams did dump a pretty significant chunk of change in free agency so you and I were tasked with each pick each picking our single favorite free agency Edition across the entire division we only get one name out of these three teams essentially that that spent who is your number one free agency Edition and or trade yeah we should say that it includes any sort of existing player in the league being brought on that could be free agency or trade drafts or draft picks are going to be a different category so in this category of free agency or trade for me it's got to be DJ Moore this was one of the key moves of the off season League wide getting an alpha wide receiver for Justin Fields is something that's been necessary for a while a lot of people were hoping it was going to be Alan Robinson and his last year which was Justin's first year didn't work out that way last year they just kind of punted they brought in a bunch of guys but they didn't really make an attempt despite you know I have money to make an attack yeah despite a very large uproar from the Chicago fan base so you gotta do something Ryan Pole's held firm didn't do that this season he was determined and it's one of the reasons that they ended up making that trade uh down out of the number one spot with Carolina because Carolina had a receiver in DJ Moore that they wanted and if you listen to the sort of Fallout of how that trade occurred that was a linchpin of that trade if there was no DJ Moore to Chicago that pick wasn't going to Carolina they wanted to accomplish that DJ Moore was better than anybody that that was available in free agency for the wide receiver spot and It just fits on so many levels file accounts he's rejuvenated of course everybody's in the best shape of their life at this time of the year but DJ Moore receiver I've loved since he came out he's been very productive in Carolina no reason to think that won't continue in Chicago and it's something they just desperately needed my number one is going to be CJ Gardner Johnson with the Lions which is not uh the longest term or even the most expensive deal in the division but I think it's the best deal considering the money that they spent on him his cap number this year is four and a half million because they tacked on a void year for an extra two so it was technically a one year six and a half million dollar deal but it was the way they structured it it was really like four and a half now two next year but again CJ Gardner Johnson for anything less than 10 was unexpected you get them on a one-year mercenary contract because for whatever reason the the free agent Market wasn't going his way and so he decided to take a cheap contract on an ascending team that should be a hell of a lot better on defense and if you go watch the Lions episode you'll understand why we think that he could very easily be making triple this next off-season if he has the type of year that we think he can have he's very versatile you can play him you know down the slot he could play free safety he's tough against the Run he does everything right he is he is really really a perfect fit for what they need uh in that secondary which we expect to be very man coverage heavy once again uh now this is a team that has what four uh hybrid safety nickel types in the same secondary so he's just kind of like one extra one but I think he also might be the best one that they have and to get him at a four and a half million dollar cap number is it's kind of absurd to be honest larceny yeah yeah it's I still really want to know what the hell his free agent Market actually was because I guarantee you it wasn't that but hey Lion's got a good one for basically no money it was uh from a value perspective that was my top one uh what about uh draft picks your favorite draft pick across all the NFC North teams who wasn't yeah a lot of good draft picks in this division most of these teams had very strong drafts and while it would be easy for me to go with Darnell Wright or Roshan Johnson everybody knows I'm a big Roshan Johnson fan overall in terms of where a player landed in terms of fit and his ability to contribute right away I've got to go with Jordan Addison to the Vikings he is going to be there day one number three wide receiver he is going to be productive I think from game one and make a difference in that offense he's an improvement coming in over you know a veteran player player in Adam thielen who throughout his career has been very good had a bit of a Down year last year but not fell off the cliff he you know still caught a lot of balls for them and Jordan Addison is going to be a clear upgrade for them in multiple ways and really expand that offense and it's really rare that you can say that sort of truthfully right off the crack about a rookie coming into an NFL program that was already good it's not a terrible team that was lacking wide receivers so he's the obvious best option he might even be the third best wide receiver on his own team but in the role that he comes into he's going to be extremely valuable he's sort of custom made for it just feels like a perfect match and you also have to factor in the financials behind it too uh rookie receivers in terms of value for what you get if they pop off are some of the most valuable contracts in the NFL Justin Jefferson in a wide receiver Market where the top guys are getting 30 plus million dollars a year now he's maybe the best receiver in the entire league making a fraction of a fraction of that yeah so Jordan Addison knowing that Justin Jefferson is going to completely Shadow the receiver Market whenever he happens to sign who knows maybe he'll sign before this even comes out because there's been talks that that they're trying to to do that right um a lot of that hinges on what's going on with Dalvin which also maybe he gets traded by the time this goes out but anyway taking Addison and getting a at minimum five possibly six years of contract control on a very valuable position a very expensive position that you know you're already going to have to dump a ton of money into to keep Jefferson around you this is going to be a very valuable contract not just a valuable player so I think we're going to see a lot more receivers go in the first round uh I mean already a lot of receivers go in the first round but with each passing year it's just going to be more and more and more as the receiver Market gets crazier and crazier and crazier because it's the only way to get financially responsible receiving production at this point is to get that fifth year option now we're going to see them sneak into those last five or eight spots in the first round of the draft where typically that was uh quarterbacks and it was like reserved for quarterbacks and Edge rushers where people were like oh let's get that fifth year control and again a very expensive position wide receivers crept up there and is has that level of value and if it's the you know fifth best quarterback and he's you know sort of clearly going to be a number two on your roster and he's gonna have to sit for a year or two or a guy like Addison that could be your third wide receiver but start you're going to tip it towards the wide receiver even over the quarterback which seems crazy but money-wise it's not that far off I mean AJ Brown's getting 25 million dollars a year right now once Jefferson signs at 30 plus because tyreke's at 30 even though his deals kind of I don't want to call it fake but it's not it's odd it's odd right um but Jefferson's definitely getting 30 plus Jamar is going to get 30 plus AJ Brown at 25 is going to look real damn good within the next 12 months yes and it's only going to go up from there uh in terms of my favorite draft pick getting away from receiver even though he's going to be used basically like a receiver that's Luke Musgrave with the Packers again fully appreciate the Bears draft here I very easily could have gone with Darnell Wright or Tucker craft or sorry Darnell Wright or uh or Roshan or Dexter or Tyreke Stevenson like the Bears had a lot of good picks that I was thinking about but in terms of value for where they got this player in the draft plus immediate impact Luke Musgrave I think is going to be one of the very few rookie tight ends that we see that has immediate impact because there's not really a veteran in front of him there's not really competition for snaps other than fellow rookie Tucker crap but I think Musgraves just better not that craft is bad like I love craft but like Musgrave I think is a better version of tuckercraft he's huge he's smooth he's fast he's a legitimate seam ripper reminds me a lot of of Tyler eifert before eifert's injuries you know kind of derailed his career but like young Tyler eifert was freaking Unstoppable and I feel like Luke Musgrave is going to be a similar type of player which not only is a rookie but also by year two we could look at him as one of the most productive tight ends in the entire league because he's very talented he's in a tight end friendly system that feeds that position historically I think sky's the limit for him and Green Bay got a really really good player I think he can be contributing this season I don't know that that's all going to show up in like fantasy contribution right it's not necessarily going to be a ton of yards or touchdowns because typically rookie tight ends don't do that very few of them ever uh have high levels of production that way but if you're looking at production in an offense also in his ability to block because he can he's a large frame he's I'm not going to say he's a rocked up guy but he's a well-muscled guy we're going to see him add weight uh over time that two-way production in terms of how he helps make their offense go in a football sense he could be very productive if you're looking at as a combined metric certainly by the end of the year and I think his production will only increase sort of in year two familiarity to the system as Jordan love gets more comfortable with the offense with him in particular um so don't don't hang your hat on super high production either in yards or touchdowns all although I think he will be a very good Red Zone Target for them but also his ability to not leave the field and like you said he's gonna get a lot of snaps I will say this though even if he isn't the most productive Titan in the league right now if you're doing like best ball drafts on Underdog or our main sponsor he's tied in 30. he's not going to be the 30th most productive tight end in the league like that seems crazy to me so if I'm again if I'm value hunting for fantasy like Luke Musgraves who I'm going after because there is not 29 tight ends in the league they're going to be more productive than him in my opinion like the the role is there the skills are there as long as Jordan love doesn't himself every time he walks out on the field Luke Musgrave is going to be way better than tight end 30. so again if you're doing basketball drafts you're getting him in like the last round was his ADP to yeah 209 6. you're getting like the last round go for it take him in every single team it's it's a lottery ticket that is very likely to at least uh you know give you a few games of a pretty crazy and that's all you need in best ball right you know literally all you need you don't have to pick the right weeks and hope that he that he goes off or or wait till the second half of the season when he warms up if he's on your team you're getting the points he is going to have some this year he's gonna have some big receptions he's gonna have some touchdowns he's you know he's got long arms he's pretty tall he is a very fluid receiver for his size he's he's gonna have some production and again best ball is like the ideal format for that because if you've got him on your team it's just going into the kitty for the points uh one quick Shameless plug by the before we move on to division predictions uh promo code bootleg over Underdog fantasy they will match your deposit up to a hundred dollars so whatever you deposit again up to 100 they will double it on your account you can use it on anything whether it's basketball drafts pickums in any single sport they will give you a lot of value there now division predictions you and I are uh the same and also opposite when it comes to division MVP and division offensive player of the year we chose the same two players we just put them in opposite spots those two players being Justin Jefferson and Justin fields for division MVP I put Justin Fields you put Justin Jefferson the other Justin for offensive player of the year you put Justin Fields I put Justin Jefferson either way I think it's safe to say that we are extraordinarily high on Justin fields that he could potentially be this year's you know Jalen hurts type rise Justin Jefferson we all know he's good like we couldn't get away with not putting him in one of these spots Justin Fields I think is is truly the the kind of point and contention that maybe people people might bring up of like how can you possibly anoint him after everything we've seen the answer is because of everything we've seen we we have a pretty good idea of what he's gonna be now he has a Supporting Cast he has a structure around him again there's a lot of young pieces that you're counting on here but he has receivers he has better protection the offense you know Luke getze I think showed the ability to adjust and and change things up mid-season last year and create an offense out of thin air that just suddenly worked like he can do that again I have no reason to believe that Justin Fields is not going to be a massive massive ascending Talent this year which is why I put him in MVP and I think people that disagree with that did not watch enough Bears games last year he can take over a game all by himself and people think that's all he can do outside Watchers think that's all he can do because that's what they saw well the play broke down and he ran well yeah but he ran you know through the entire Eagles defense for 50 yards 60 yards and scored in in a play that very few players in the league can run like that and maybe only one or two other quarterbacks in the league could have pulled off a run like that um there were a lot of passing plays that he delivered on ball was delivered to the right time the right place uh receiver wasn't able to get separation or or didn't hold on to it and look he's got areas of growth but there were so many plays that you just sort of scratched off before they even started to happen as that's not a fair assessment because the center just folded and rolled over backwards or you know whoever was playing left guard or Right Guard that we went the wrong way and there's a free rusher in his face in 0.5 seconds you know play is dead essentially and sometimes he spun out of those and ran for 25 yards so the highlights kind of push people in the wrong direction now that he's got a stable offensive line that should be operating in a more professional level in front of him he has that's a nice way of saying remotely competency yeah that's all they have to do is stay in the middle they do not have to be a top 10 line like I'm not saying Chicago's line needs to be Cleveland's line or Justin won't be successful like they're 15 to 18th overall in line metrics he will be fine he has plenty of tools and he's got receivers to throw to he's got a legit tight end two for the first time ever in his career the running back stable is you know completely refreshed and I think a three-headed monster I don't think there's any drop off depending on which back you go to it's just which flavor of run you're looking for this is the best chance that we're gonna get to see Justin Fields Powers if he fails here he's got an offensively minded offensive coordinator he's got a line he's got people to throw to he's got great support from the Run game and he's still got those Wheels right if that all breaks down he can still put the team on his back run 55 yards and end up in the end zone I think this is a year that he you said ascends I think explodes Chicago's a sleeping giant third largest market in the country haven't been good for a very long time if Chicago starts to get good and Justin leads that charge yeah he's going to be the MVP of the division for sure right and dare I say it's possible more yeah if he gets that hot the spotlight will get very hot Chicago is extremely hungry for a good team a really good team and a star and he can be both he can be a star leading a really good team and if that happens Chicago is going to wake the hell up I mean this is a century-old franchise that has literally never had well maybe one time ever had a Star Quarterback you know what they've never had a 4 000 year passer that's the one it's insane no quarterback for the Bears has ever exceeded 4 000 yards even in the last 20 years of uh you know the NFL leaning heavily towards the aerial attack um you know people go oh well you know Kramer got close uh Cutler would have had it if he didn't break his thumb well it's true but nobody's ever done it it you know that would be one mark but that's not even the mark that Justin's looking for right he's looking for double digit wins a playoff berth a playoff win winning the division those are the things that he's looking for and I think all those things are possible are they probable no there's a lot of ways to go and they haven't done it there's no historical precedent if it happens he's going to be an absolute meteor I also do want to take uh one second by the way to acknowledge Justin Jefferson uh again everybody knows he's good he's going like first overall in every single Fantasy Draft we don't need to explain too much why we love Jefferson because he is one of the best do-it-all receivers honestly that I've seen in the last 10 years he is worth every ounce of hype he has been worth every ounce of hype since the moment he stepped on the field as a rookie I really do think that if there is a receiver in the NFL who could push for League MVP it's probably him it's an uphill climb it's a very uphill climb because quarterbacks are almost always going to win that maybe the occasional running back if they get 20 100 yards or something like that um but Justin Jefferson really is that good he is on the fast track to not just Hall of Fame but first ballot Hall of Fame if he keeps this up he will go down as one of the best receivers ever and so we couldn't keep him out of division MVP or offensive player there really just whichever one one would be so he just he deserves to be talked about with that level of regard because he is that good now in terms of defensive player of the year you and I I don't want to call it a disagreement we just you know same position different team uh we just had different names here I went with rashan Gary who I think you picked last year was my pick last year I was gonna bring that up and if he didn't get hurt maybe he would have been yeah of the division right like he's a phenomenal player so and I'm just kind of rolling that back with the same argument of like hey here's this top tier Elite Edge rusher who's also an ass kicker against the Run he can play anything from like stand up Edge to put him at 4i every now and then he could do that too he's big he's strong he's quick he's flexible he's everything you want right he's rashan Gary if he stays healthy he will make that push not just for division defensive player of the year but League defensive player of the year you however went a little bit uh to over the left field I would say for a name that is perennially underrated I mean extremely underrated and also I think even among his own fan base might be underrated at this point you highlighted Daniel Hunter yeah and this has as much to do with the player as it does to do with his new defensive coordinator so you're thinking Flores is going to scheme just outrageous amounts of one-on-ones for him well if I was in his shoes I would right I would look at my best athlete as a pass rusher who's had success even had success last year in that absolute mess of a defense didn't get a lot of highlights because the defense overall was getting smoked but he had a decent individual year now he's going to have a lot more support around him and a very aggressive scheme one thing we know about that scheme is they're gonna bring it right they're gonna come they are gonna get after quarterbacks and there's no better player on that defense to get after quarterbacks and Hunter and it's as much about the change in the scheme around him and the talent around him um as it is about hey guys that was good last year but I didn't have a lot of help I was doing a lot of it myself probably played too many snaps last year didn't get enough rest that may all change this year and I really a guy I think to watch in the first half of the season if he starts rolling in the first six or eight games and gets into a rhythm and the defensive play callers get into a rhythm of hey this is when we call his number and this is how these are the plays that he likes and he starts you know getting to the quarterback and the way that we know he can early he could keep that rolling I could see that momentum going and he could be right there at the end of the year in conversation for all those Awards well we know this is a defense that that should have a pretty damn High Blitz rate under Flores they're gonna play a lot of man coverage as well I would be willing to bet that a lot of their pressure schemes whether they're bringing five or occasionally whether they bring in six it's going to be on the opposite side of Hunter it's not gonna be on the same side a lot of people always say like oh what happens if they put so and so right next to each other it's like no no that's not what they're gonna do they're going to bring the pressure from the other side so that they have to slide that way to give Daniel not just a one-on-one but a one-on-one with a two-way go yeah they want the guard going the other way right because they got to pick up a nose and the center gets to pick up a linebacker on the you know guard like they want all four guys sliding the other way so that Daniel gets one-on-one so he can win in whatever way he needs to win so yeah I I wouldn't be shocked if he had a career year this year just because a they're gonna have a lot of leads and B I think floors is going to do everything in his power to make his job easier one of the things he's going to do is bring Ivan Pace down to mug gaps there's there's literally no other reason to have Ivan Pace on the roster other than to just be like it's third and ten it's Pace Time go absolutely murder a running back and pass bro right and he's gonna bring him down he's gonna creep him up he's gonna mug A or B gaps on Hunter's side and it's gonna be a pickum situation right the guard and the tackle are going to be like well we know this guy can come and we know this guy is really good we can't leave him over here there's going to be that little false step gotcha step back and Hunters one-on-one with a tackle because the guard's like I was here for the LA I can't because you can't put a running back on him like that's the thing it's like that's that's how you get the guard to move is knowing that you cannot put a running back on Ivan Pace he's going to kill them yeah and he's going to be backpedaling laughing like I just made a one-on-one for Hunter and you're doing nothing you're standing there just looking for work um it's gonna be a lot of fun we're gonna we're gonna see some really creative schemes and some some really high pressure schemes and I think for Vikings fans that's gonna be fun it's fun when your defensive team is getting after the quarterback and and you know they brought in a guy that can do that so now in terms of offensive Rookie of the Year both you and I were in a joint agreement on this one Jordan Addison uh for all the reasons that we talked about before and all the value he brings to them as likely a slot receiver who also maybe could play a little bit outside here and there uh if they want to put Justin Jefferson in the slot and run those slot Fades that he's so dominant on you can still put Addison outside and he'll survive there just fine but probably will primarily be a slot for them I do want to say honorable mention we were both really close to picking Roshan Johnson but it's a tough backfield to figure out in terms of the carry split so it's we can't truly justify it Roshan's really good though yeah something has to happen for that to occur and that would be an injury a little bit of missed time um he gets off to a really hot start takes advantage of the few carries that he does get and breaks a couple you know there starts to be Groundswell for like hey man he had you know 60 yards and three carries last week we should get him some touches and and that sort of moves through the early season it's it's all the right dominoes have to fall because he is surrounded you know or bookended by two really uh accomplished veteran-backs who were super talented in their own right so it's not a clean uh alignment towards role like we have with Jordan right Jordan's like oh he's Jordan Addison is going to be third receiver like day one Roshan might be rb3 day one it's totally possible so a couple of things have to happen right he has to get on a roll but if he does I get the feeling he's gonna be one of those players that once he gets regular playing time is going to be very hard to unseat it's going to be tough to take him out of the lineup if he is healthy because he is going to be producing he's a very good pass protector so you're not going to have those like oh we get the yards but Justin's getting mangled that's not going to be a thing so once he gets any kind of significant playing time he's gonna get goal line carries so again touchdowns even if you don't get the yards are are going to be splashy he's going to be up on red zone right people are going to be like I don't know I saw Roshan had two touchdowns last weekend like why aren't they playing him number one if that happens he's got an outside shot at it in terms of Defensive Rookie of the Year both of us also in agreement on this one couldn't go with anybody other than Jack Campbell from Iowa one of the most physically gifted inside linebacker prospects of his generation I mean his resource I think was like a 999 if I recall correctly it was up there he's 6'4 250 jumps out the gym you know not Elite long speed but good enough long speed incredible agility scores like he's just a freak athlete while also being very disciplined very well coached he's got everything you want like taking him I think he was 18th overall if I recall quickly a lot of people reacted negatively to that because like why are you taking a linebacker that high well if you look at defenses around the league that are really good they all have really good Mike linebackers you can't have an elite defense without an elite Mike linebacker and there's just not a lot of them you know the Niners I don't say the Niners are good because of Fred Warner but a lot of the stuff they do is only possible because they have Fred Warner and the advantage that he gives them you know not just in the pass game because he's great in coverage but also as a run Defender like he's Elite too you can't have a top tier defense without having that spot locked down so for all those reasons I think Jack Campbell's an easy pick here um I'm curious to see what the mix of snaps is with him and then anzaloni and then Malcolm Rodriguez who I was a huge fan of last year and then you know eventually got on the field and was very productive and kind of Justified that a little bit he ain't Campbell are very different in terms of of builds and roles and everything like that um so maybe this pushes Malcolm Rodriguez out of getting a lot of snaps when they're in nickel stuff and there's only two linebackers on the field but I think eventually it's going to be Campbell and Rodriguez together and that is just a sawed-off shotgun of a linebacking core and I I really can't wait to see what this group does together because for once it feels like the Lions have a damn good group of linebackers and Campbell's so smart too his vision has increased every year um that he was at Iowa he got better at diagnosing he's not just a physical Marvel who's trying to figure out he is a guy that plays linebacker very well his instincts and vision have been owned uh and then he's just channeling that unreal athleticism and size right you see very few linebackers of his side inside linebackers of his size anymore um not to mention the fact that he can still move I feel like he's going to be an entrenched starter for them pretty quickly might not happen immediately because again they do have folks with experience that are there but it's gonna be one of those things I mean even you know Jack Campbell is not Brian Urlacher but Brian Urlacher was a strong sideline backer when he got there and he was miscast and he played and played and then Barry Minter got hurt they slid him over and went oh the way it should have been and he never left yeah right and I feel like whenever Campbell gets to slot into that middle linebacker he's not going to be the game's not going to be too fast for him he's not going to be overwhelmed he's going to be the guy wearing the green dot really quickly for that linebacking core and once all that happens like I think you know we'll be sitting here seven years from now eight years from now going and Jack Campbell's still really good in other news yeah 18th pick wasn't that high all things considered for an eight eight plus year starter uh in terms of Coach of the Year you and I both agree going from one Campbell in Detroit to the next Dan Campbell it kind of feels like the momentum has been building for him for multiple years now we're seeing that kind of investment in culture payoff the talent is there you know they went on a really good run in the back half of last year after they finally finally seemed to get over the hump of just snatching defeat from the Jaws victory in in new and interesting ways every single Sunday I mean it's at one point Justin Tucker literally had to kick a record-breaking field goal to beat this team and and the lions were always on the receiving end of that that type of stuff they could not just freaking win games and then after Miami or after the loss against Miami last year they kind of Switched some things up and it just turned into a threshing machine I think that momentum keeps building this year and Dan Campbell uh which I know you also agree with gets his first coach of the year award I hope it happens feels like he deserves it again inertia can be a very difficult thing to turn around in the NFL in terms of that ability to just break a historical trend of not being able to win the close ones and it doesn't seem like that really should be a thing because there's so much turnover every year in the NFL each team truly is really different we are not you know 30 years ago where you could kind of Stack players and and keep them and you know dynasties year after year was just sort of a it was a tough thing to break up there's so much movement with free agency in the draft and windows are so much shorter right coach doesn't win for three years he's probably out there's no like oh it's his teething period we'll give him a couple more seasons that's not a thing and for Campbell and and really Brad Holmes to come in and say we've got an idea it's an identity they sort of got Campbell got laughed at it his first press conference because he was Dan Campbell he was all amped up and talking about biting kneecaps and everybody focused on that and not like I'm gonna hold players responsible we're in a really really tough football team we're gonna play smarter and I think the most underrated thing about Dan Campbell is ability to self Scout right his ability to say no I'm not happy with the offense I'm going to call plays and then later say I'm not the best one to be doing this I'm going to hand that back off right he's been good in that CEO role in terms of understanding what people are good at including himself seems fairly egoless there but at the same time I would say strict with the standard of how we play football and that seems to be what's turned the tide to where they win those closer games feels like it's time for him to get that recognition and I think uh you know coach of the year at least in terms of the division uh would be you know ample recognition and rightfully so I think what what maybe people were not paying attention to going back to that biting kneecaps press conference years ago at this point and everybody's making fun of him and saying ah he's talking about fighting decaps it's so weird looking him being so eccentric what they weren't paying attention to was all the players in Lions locker room saying yeah let's go bite some kneecaps right that's what matters the players bought in like they eat kneecaps every single week now they love it like you look at Hard Knocks last year some of the faces those guys were making in the meeting rooms like they would kill for that man 100 percent it matters it matters and for all those reasons and more by the way shocker I'm picking the Lions to win the division a lot of people are picking the lines to win the division they're probably the most popular pick to win the division I think they're going to be a fantastic team um they very well could push for a high seed in the NFC they're gonna have to compete with the Eagles assuming the Niners work out their quarterback situation they're going to compete with them for it as well but the lions are potentially a complete well-coached talented football team that it's I I can't pick anybody other than them to be my early favorite yeah I'm gonna go with the Vikings in a sort of Razor thin race which is you know they basically split with each other and sort of the Vikings win it on points or strength of schedule or whatever it is because the Vikings were not as good as their record last year but still a very good football team and their major deficiency was defense not offense and they've fixed that in a major way so I'm not predicting a great fall for them like maybe a regression to mean but that would still be that would still look something like 11 wins that's you know two wins better for the Lions if they get 11 wins they both get 11 wins I think the Vikings might take it on whatever strength of schedule Point totals whatever it goes but you're still thinking just razor thin yeah basically a much better Division I think every team in some substantive way has improved in this Division Chicago obviously has had a ton of money to spend and it was their year to do it um the lions were already fantastic on offense really needed some defensive help sounds the same for the Vikings Vikings addressed it through coaching not so many player editions the Lions went heavy in the draft to get some defense and at key positions and you know this is just it feels like it's going to be a very strong Vision that beats the hell out of each other with a couple of really good teams I could see two playoff teams coming out of this division for the first time in a bit um both with good chances to win and I think that'd be exciting for NFC North fans in general and you know if you told me at the end of the season that Chicago hit a hot streak and won the division I'd be like sure he told me that Jordan love turned into a superstar and the Packers won their division I just chucked my laptop off the patio and walk away but I mean either way you could sell me on any of the four teams I think probably the Packers at least just because it really is the First full season for Jordan love and the bright lights um and the other teams are freaking good I'm gonna put you on the spot here sure because spoiler alert when we get to NFC East EJ's been talking up Washington all off season he's big on Washington going into 2023. I doubt that you're going to have Washington as your number four team in the NFC East but it's tough to pick a number four team in the NFC East because they're all good just like NFC North which division between the NFC North and the NFC East do you think overall is better right now you could even say who has the best number four team oh who has the best worst team and we use the term worst very Loosely here best last placed team in their own division that's tough because the NFC East was wildly underrated last year they were one of the toughest divisions in terms of wins in terms of um you know Improvement again the Giants were much better than anybody thought they were um Cowboys went strong obviously everybody knows about the Eagles and and you know the commanders were not good for a bunch of reasons but they've made some really substantive changes so really you're talking about I wouldn't even say they weren't good they were just solid yeah they were solid but they they you know again looking up at the rest of the division that's a great question because it uh there's two facets to that one is you know who do you think's gonna regress a little bit in the NFC east or do you think the commanders are going to take a jump out of the basement and then who do you think is the worst team in the NFC North that see that's even harder for me to pick than the winner is who's number four right I I think again there's a case for I don't say four I'd I'd probably say too I think there's a case for two in the NFC North I'm gonna default oh God I don't know it is I can't default to the Bears I ah I don't want to see the Packers the worst either because that's going to trigger everyone the apocalypse uh of Jordan love being good I I know the second I say they're gonna finish last he's gonna be amazing yeah and I don't think I think the lions are too solid in roster and coaching to regress it and the Vikings are better and the Vikings are really good they're they would have to have something cataclysmic right they would have to have Kirk like injured early but they've still got so much talent that it feels like a backup quarterback and Kevin O'Connell could adjust and win a fair number of games but maybe the worst team this is probably the most uh Fair Slice on that maybe the worst team in both of those divisions is like an eight or nine win team I was gonna say like I I I'll caveat this by saying the Packers finished fourth but they're still above 500. which I think Packers fans would take at this point but yeah I don't I don't think that's probably possible but let's say they win eight games right and they're strong they just lose a couple you know again fourth quarter they're in it they you know they don't get the role kind of like uh you know well kind of like the Bears last year quite frankly um but you know I could see the last place team in both the NFC east and the NFC North being like eight win teams I can't remember what my what was my floor for the Packers I'm gonna look that up real quick six I think that's what it was right like if if the bottom completely came out it was like I don't realistically expect that no man that's hard this is a good division this is a good Division and NFC East was better than people thought so we'll get to that division second to last we are going counterclockwise from the north North NFC AFC West NFC AFC South same thing and then we'll get to NFC East and AFC East will be our last division in this series but there's a lot of good football to talk about and a lot of good teams I really can't wait for week one because we're gonna put you know that that Packers Bears question to the test immediately right it's week one I don't is that a Prime Time game I can't remember it probably is I don't think it is but I'm not sure Bears Packers isn't Prime Time well yeah but this is very difficult very different Bears very different Lions get a week one Prime Time game but not Bears Packers holy yeah well it's a new day and I don't think I like it very much uh we'll see you next week when we uh we begin AFC North with the Cleveland Browns see you guys later [Music] [Music] thank you

Channel: Bootleg Football

Views: 65,658

Keywords: NFL, NFC north, bears, packers, lions, Vikings

Id: 5hpE6tfDrwY

Length: 50min 12sec (3012 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 16 2023