There is one simple explanation for the NFL’s toughest division in 2024 ranking this low: youth. Williams, 23, survived a rough rookie season fraught with organizational dysfunction. The Bears brought in reinforcements, including a new coaching regime led by Ben Johnson, keeping the expectations high for their chosen franchise quarterback, with only a season’s worth of evidence to suggest he can live up to them. McCarthy, 22, hasn’t taken an in-game snap since Week 1 of the 2024 preseason, yet the second-year pro is climbing into the driver’s seat of a team that won 14 games last season, raising hopes for a repeat performance in 2025. We know what Goff, the veteran 30-year-old outlier, brings to the table for Detroit, but we don’t know exactly how that will translate to the field now that Johnson, Goff’s offensive coordinator over the past three seasons, is leading the rival Bears. All we need from Love, 26, is a healthy season and a more reliable showing over 17 games than he’s put up in his two years as a starter thus far. The latter two QBs understandably drive this ranking, but if all four thrive, expect the NFC North to climb to the top quickly.
