Detroit Lions: 12-5
The Lions were a few plays and a ladybug catch away from winning the NFC Championship game and are the NFC contender most likely to dethrone the 49ers. Detroit brings back a very similar team with the biggest changes being losing starters Jonah Jackson (LAR), Josh Reynolds (DEN), and CJ Gardner-Johnson (PHI), and bringing in CB Carlton Davis, EDGE Marcus Davenport, and OG Kevin Zeitler. In the draft they also were able to draft two aggressive and physical corners Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr in the first two rounds. Investing so heavily into their biggest hole last season, CB, by bringing in two capable rookie corners and a proven veteran in Carlton Davis was great business and should raise the floor of the defense. The thing that really makes me optimistic about the 2024 Lions is that they were able to bring back Ben Johnson after all signs pointed to him accepting a head coaching job elsewhere. He is one of the best and most creative offensive coordinators in the league and was one of the hottest head coaching candidates for a reason, but he decided to stay around for one more season. The Lions electric offense now won’t need to worry about learning a new playbook, now they just need a breakout season from Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs. If they get one or both players to play up to their superstar potential, Jared Goff and Co. will be right back in the championship game and one of the best teams in the NFL.
Green Bay Packers: 11-6
The Packers were one of the hottest teams in the league at the end of last season and should have no trouble building off an impressive playoff win against the Cowboys. Jordan Love may not have the sample size needed to crown him as one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but the flashes he shows are truly special. The 25-year-old also has the benefit of growing up in the league with his collection of very good receivers. Those receivers are 25-year-old Christian Watson, 24-year-old Jayden Reed, 24-year-old Romeo Doubs, and 23-year-old Dontayvion Wicks. Each player has shown real flashes of good to great play and they all fit together perfectly. Those are just the receivers too, I haven’t even mentioned the pair of good 23-year-old tight ends, the addition of Josh Jacobs, or their top ten offensive line. There is no reason for this offense to do anything but continue to improve and become one of the best offenses in the league. Defensively, they should also be much better after finally replacing defensive coordinator Joe Berry with former Boston College HC Jeff Hafley. Berry’s defenses have consistently underperformed relative to the talent level during his tenure. They also seemed to change their team building philosophies by bringing in one of the best defensive players available in safety Xavier McKinney. Considering how much individual talent there already is on this defense, a good coordinator could make them play more together and bring them closer to a top half of the league defense. If they can get to that level, this offense will carry them to the playoffs, and perhaps even compete for the NFC North title. After fielding the youngest roster in the league last season, it’s no longer a question of if they’ll be contenders, it’s just a matter of when.
Chicago Bears: 8-9
Caleb Williams is going to completely transform this franchise, as they’ve been without a franchise QB for almost the team’s entire history. Caleb is the prize Bears fans have been waiting decades for, and he really could be special. He has all the traits of an elite quarterback, and Chicago is actually setting him up for success, as he’s coming into a better situation than he had at USC. The Bear O-Line isn’t perfect, but it’s so much better than what he was working with last year. What makes me think the Bears could actually be in the running for a wild card spot is the top tier receiving group and the improved performance of the defense post-Sweat trade. The receivers fit perfectly together with reliable veteran Keenan Allen, electric playmaker DJ Moore, and explosive rookie Rome Odunze. Even if Caleb isn’t as good as I believe he can be this season, these receivers will dominate one on one matchups and keep Caleb from ever losing confidence. Their defense is also bringing back almost the same group that was playing at a top ten level last season after they traded for Montez Sweat. While they might not be able to get much pressure outside of Sweat, or at least enough to be dominant, they should be good enough to keep the defense competitive. If Caleb can come out the gates as a top 10-15 quarterback, a mediocre defense won’t matter, and he could propel them to outperform this prediction and maybe even shock the world and win the North.
RIP Khyree Jackson
Rest in Peace Khyree Jackson, Isaiah Hazel, and Anthony Lytton. My thoughts and prayers go out to each of their families after the three high school teammates passed away on Saturday after being involved in a 3-car accident. Jackson, a 2024 fourth round pick for the Vikings was a great kid by all accounts, and it is a tragedy that he passed away at just 24 years old, a few months after realizing his dreams of being drafted into the NFL.
Minnesota Vikings: 7-10
Obviously, the Vikings predictions don’t matter after the tragedy of this weekend, but I'll just keep what I had originally written up on the 2024 Minnesota Vikings below.
The Vikings are going into a brand-new era of their franchise, one with rookie QB JJ McCarthy at the helm. While Sam Darnold is set to be the starting QB to begin the season, I doubt he’ll be able to keep himself from turning the ball over, and we’ll end up seeing the rookie much sooner than most expect, possibly even after their week six bye week. JJ is definitely raw after not being asked to do much throwing at Michigan, but he has all the tools and seems to be a smart enough kid to keep the offense afloat. The skill position group of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson, and Aaron Jones are elite and should be a massive help to his development. Kevin O’Connell’s ability to make life easy for QB's should also be mentioned, showcased by Joshua Dobbs' 'Linsanity' run just days after being traded for. That gives me great hope that he’ll do a good job developing JJ. I also haven’t mentioned Brian Flores yet, as his defenses always give some of the most chaotic looks possible, so even if they aren’t as talented as they were last year, his scheme should help alleviate that a bit. I’m confident the future will be bright for the Vikings, but I’m just not sure it will be this season. Whichever QB is playing is bound to have costly turnovers that leave the Vikings losing games they should have won. With either an inexperienced rookie who barely threw the ball in college, or a turnover prone, ghost-seeing veteran at the helm it’s easy to see them ending up with a worse record than what their overall talent would lead you to believe.
Once again, RIP Khyree Jackson. Gone much too soon. I wish there were words to help those grieving. I hope anyone grieving has at least seen the multitude of positive stories of Khyree shared on Twitter over the last few days, as everyone seemed to be in awe of how cheerful a young man he was.
Photos by Eric Seals (USA TODAY), Time HEitman (USA TODAY), Stacey Wescott (Chicago Tribune), and Nick Wosika (Icon Sportswire),
Comments