NFC North

Minnesota Vikings - (11-5) - He's baaaack, yup Favre is back. Surprised, yes, no, maybe? Either way he will be taking snaps for the Vikes. He doesn't have to carry this team. Adrian Peterson is a workhorse. Chester Taylor is a great back up. Favre doesn't have great weapons to throw to. Rookie Percy Harvin can line up in multiple spots. Bernard Berrian could have a nice year with the addition of Favre. Tight End Visanthe Shiancoe had a solid season with 7 touchdowns. The offensive line is back except for a major piece. Matt Birk left via free agency. John Sullivan will get the start in his third pro season. The defense is good. Maybe a little overrated. The defensive line is great. Pat and Kevin Williams are giants beasts clogging the middle. Jared Allen provides a tough pass rusher at end. Linebacker isn't a deep unit. Chad Greenway played up to expectations last year. Look for him to get even better in his fourth year. E.J. Henderson is back from injury. He is the leader of the defense at middle linebacker. Ben Leber is a solid player on the outside. The defensive backs are led by Antoine Winfield. He is entering his tenth season and still laying out hits at corner. Cedric Griffin has the other corner spot. He needs to step up in his coverage abilities. Mediau Williams is a good safety but got injured early last year. He came back late and played well. Tyrell Johnson will take over for long time Viking Darren Sharper. He needs to help solidify that spot. If Griffin and Johnson can play well, This defense can be top notch. If not it could lead to some holes.

Chicago Bears - (9-7) - The Bears and Vikings remind me alot of each other. New QB Jay Cutler will need to be the answer Chicago has been looking for. Matt Forte is a workhorse much like Peterson. He has excellent hands as well. Tight ends Desmond Clark and Greg Olson will need to make alot of catches. The wide receivers are poor. Jauquin Iglesias is a rookie out of Oklahoma. He could be a great short yardage receiver in the slot. Orlando Pace was brought in to strengthen the line. A change of scenery could wake Pace up for a season. But his best days are far behind. Olin Kreutz is still a tough gritty player but he is getting older as well. The defense is tough. Tommy Harris is one of the top linemen in the NFL. Lance Briggs is a tremendous outside linebacker. Brian Urlacher is still a solid player. Nick Roach, Hunter Hillenmeyer and rookie Marcus Freeman will battle for the other outside spot. Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher are a top duo at corner. But they have had alot of injuries the past few years. D.J. Moore was drafted in the fourth round this April. He is a tough player who will play through injury. He could be a stand out at some point in his career for the Bears. Kevin Payne is a good all around player at strong safety. This team could challenge the Vikings for the division title. Especially if someone steps up at wide receiver.

Green Bay Packers - (8-8) - Aaron Rodgers played well in his first year as a starter. He has a ton of weapons. Greg Jennings highlights the receiver group. Veteran Donald driver, James Jones and second year player Jordy Nelson round out a very solid 1- 4 on the depth chart. Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson are serviceable at runningback. The O-Line is good. Chad Clifton had surgery on both knees and is entering his tenth year. Other than that they are set on the line. The defense will be interesting due to the switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4. The grabbed a key piece in the draft selecting B.J. Raji to play nose. Finding ends to fit the scheme may be tough with they're current players. They may have great players at linebacker. Aaron Kampman will move to outside linebacker. The top end needs to make a smooth transition. A.J. Hawk will move inside next to Nick Barnett. The Packers also selected the very athletic Clay Matthews out of USC in the first round as well. He will get every chance to start at the other OLD spot. Charles Woodson is still playing at a high level at corner. Safety Anthony smith could find himself starting after coming from Pittsburgh where they play a 3-4. If the new defensive scheme works well, Green bay could make a playoff push. If not it could be another 6-10 year.

Detroit Loins - (2-14) - Daunte Culpepper and Mathew Stafford will battle for the top spot. They would be smart to let Stafford sit and learn for the first five or six games depending on Culpepper's play. If he plays well than letting him sit the entire year could be smart. But smart has never been associated with he Detroit Loins. Calvin Johnson is a top wide out. Brandon Pettigrew was added at tight end in the draft. He can catch and block. Kevin Smith stepped in and run well as a rookie in 2008. The offensive line isn't very good. Dominic Roiola is a solid center. Jeff Backus has been the starting left tackle for 9 years and is okay. Gosder Cherilus needs to improve in his second season at right tackle. The defense is still not good. Adding free agent Grady Jackson gives them a plug in the middle. They have upgraded at linebacker which was a priority. Larry Foote will play in the middle and Julian Peterson was brought in from a trade with Seattle. They will help take pressure off Ernie Sims who was the Lions defense last year. The defensive backfield is not good. Louis Delmas was selected with the number 33 pick in the draft. He could be a future building block for the team at safety. The rest of the group is underwhelming with no stars. This organization is still a long way from being good. It will take alot to reverse what Matt Millen did.