Football is just 49 days away when the Detroit Lions take on the Kansas City Chiefs to kick off the season. Over the last few weeks, we broke down the Lions Training Camp Roster as they get set to have their first practice on July 29th. Now we will look at the NFC North Division and rank the positions starting today with the Quarterbacks.
NFC North Position Rankings: Quarterback
4.) Green Bay Packers
The Packers come in with the worst quarterback room in the NFC North. This is a far drop after having Aaron Rodgers, who was the top Quarterback in the NFC North, now they are expected to start the season with Jordan Love as their starter. The backups aren’t much better either; Sean Clifford is expected to be the backup after the Packers selected him with the 149th pick in the Draft this past April. Things will look very different at the Quarterback position for Green Bay in 2023.
3.) Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings have Kirk Cousins back under center for 2023, and he helped lead the Vikings to a division title in 2022, but that was more so to do with the options he has to throw too. Last season Cousins threw for 4,547 yards and had 29 touchdowns as well as 14 interceptions. His backup is projected to be Nick Mullens, who played in four games last season for the Vikings, and he threw for 224 yards and one touchdown, as well as one interception. The Vikings will need Cousins to be better this season if they want to reclaim their division title.
2.) Chicago Bears
Justin Fields is primarily the main reason the Bears come in second as far as the Quarterback position in the NFC North, Fields has single-handedly won games for the Bears in his career, but that was with his legs; when it comes to his arm, he’s hit or miss week in and week out. Last season he had a completion percentage of 60.4, throwing for 2,242 yards with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Field’s backup is expected to be a battle between PJ Walker and Nathan Peterman; I’d expect Walker to come out on top in that competition. Walker wasn’t bad last season when he played for the Carolina Panthers; he played in six games, throwing for a 59.4 completion percentage, and had 731 passing yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
1.) Detroit Lions
With Rodgers now out of the NFC North, a Lions quarterback can take the reigns as the best Quarterback in the Division, and Jared Goff proved he could be just that last season as he threw for a 65.1 completion percentage as well as throwing for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns as well as just seven interceptions. Goff limited his mistakes last season as well as turning his career low in interceptions which are tied with his total from 2016 and 2017 when he was with the Rams.
The other reason the Lions come in at number one is the backup situation, Nate Sudfeld is not a terrible option behind Goff, but he’s also a placeholder; there is a slim chance that, if needed, Hendon Hooker could be healthy by October, maybe November and out of all the backups in the division I’d take Hooker over any of them after putting up Heisman numbers at the University of Tennessee last season, if it wasn’t for his injury he may have won the award as well.
Bottom Line: NFC North Quarterbacks aren’t great besides Goff
The Quarterback is one of the most important positions in sports, and in order to be great and win, you need a solid quarterback under center. Just look at the last five Super Bowl Champions and who their quarterback was, Patrick Mahomes twice, Tom Brady twice, and Matthew Stafford: good quarterbacks.
Now football is still a team game, and you need a solid team around you to win, but it starts with a good Quarterback, and entering the 2023 season, the Lions have the best Quarterback and Quarterback depth in the NFC North.
