{"id":191078,"date":"2025-07-08T14:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T14:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/191078\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T14:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T14:17:07","slug":"nfc-north-power-rankings-amon-ra-st-brown-sam-laporta-keep-lions-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/191078\/","title":{"rendered":"NFC North power rankings: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta keep Lions on top"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: We\u2019ve got some time to kill entering Bears training camp, leaving plenty of time to ponder and discuss. Our summer Tuesdays will be spent looking at the NFC North overall with some divisional power rankings. They\u2019re going to be tough considering that this division is loaded with talented and successful teams. Three franchises made the playoffs, for goodness sakes. We\u2019ve talked head coaches<\/a> and quarterbacks<\/a>. Now we move on to arguably he most competitive group in the division. You could argue it\u2019s the offensive lines or even the defensive backs. We think it\u2019s the pass catchers, both receivers and tight ends. Let\u2019s rank \u2018em. Agree or disagree, send a Bair Mail submission<\/a> with your take this list of the best pass catching groups in the division.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re running out of time before training camp starts, so we\u2019ll have to consolidate a bit when putting these rankings out. Couldn\u2019t do receivers and tight ends separate, so let\u2019s combine there here and call them pass catchers. And, yeah, we know running backs catch passes, too, but we\u2019ll evaluate running games next week and factor that in then.<\/p>\n

A you can see below, there are tons of good receivers in the NFC North. There are a few great ones, too. That\u2019s what made this ranking so tough. You\u2019ve got to evaluate star power, sure. But depth plays a role here, too. And the Bears might have the deepest skill group in the division. They have threats everywhere, though DJ Moore <\/a>remains<\/a> the feature player<\/a>, and can survive an injury or two without incident.<\/p>\n

There are some top players who push the Bears down a bit. Again, this one was tough. The Packers are clearly in last, but the other three are ever so close. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Detroit Lions<\/p>\n

Feature players: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR Jameson Williams, TE Sam LaPorta<\/p>\n

The trio listed above had a combined 2,990 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns<\/a>. That\u2019s something else. St. Brown was a first-team All-Pro<\/a>, Williams was a dynamic big play threat who seemed to turn a corner and LaPorta owned the middle of the field on short, intermediate and deep routes. Those three play slightly different games with big-time results. Part of that was Ben Johnson, now with the Bears, and Jared Goff\u2019s expert timing.<\/p>\n

Those three dudes have talent and found ways to keep producing during a 15-2 regular season campaign. Putting them in front of Minnesota was tough, considering Justin Jefferson\u2019s excellence, but the group overall is so impressive that they\u2019re elevated by how well they work together.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings<\/p>\n

Feature players: WR Justin Jefferson, WR Jordan Addison, TE T.J. Hockenson<\/p>\n

We pondered putting the Bears here. Their depth is significant and should play a role over the course of the season. But Jefferson is a great player., maybe the best receiver in the game Addison\u2019s yardage totals weren\u2019t overwhelming, but he had nine touchdowns. Hockenson\u2019s probably the X-factor here, considering his track record, his size and the fact he had a fully healthy offseason following a major knee reconstruction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be a rookie quarterback\u2019s best friend, an outlet when J.J. McCarthy can\u2019t push the ball down the field. The Vikings don\u2019t have tons of quality depth like the Bears do, but Jefferson\u2019s a next-level player. Also, let\u2019s think about this: Jefferson and St. Brown were two of three first-team All-Pro receivers. There\u2019s so much talent in this division.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears<\/p>\n

Feature players: WR DJ Moore, WR Rome Odunze, TE Colston Loveland, TE Cole Kmet, WR Luther Burden<\/p>\n

The Bears have an excellent set of pass catchers with versatile talents that can be truly dynamic. Here\u2019s why they end up in the No. 3 spot: You\u2019re essentially making futures bets on Odunze, Loveland and Burden. It\u2019s possible that Odunze is a 1,000-yard receiver<\/a> who is a co-No. 1 with Moore. It\u2019s possible that Loveland bursts on the scene and makes an instant impact. It\u2019s possible that Burden becomes the shifty YAC king who thrives in the slot.<\/p>\n

But\u2026we still don\u2019t know how they\u2019re fare at this young age. We know Moore will do what he does and is the third best receiver in the division. The Bears have tough tight ends<\/a> and a deep receiver corps, including not-previously-mentioned veteran Olamide Zaccheaus<\/a>. There\u2019s too much unknown to assume the Bears pass catchers will dominate like it\u2019s very possible they do. This list might look different in the winter, but we\u2019re not there yet.<\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers<\/p>\n

Feature players: WR Matthew Golden, WR Romeo Doubs, WR Jayden Reed, TE Tucker Kraft<\/p>\n

The Packers don\u2019t typically invest big in receivers. That\u2019s why it was somewhat surprising when they took Texas\u2019 Matthew Golden at No. 23 overall, the first time in 23 years they took a first-round receiver<\/a>. Christian Watson was a second-round pick in 2022, but he\u2019s out a while with a knee injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Packers don\u2019t have a poor group of pass catchers but it lacks the dynamic quality and star power of the others. The Packers will be competitive due to a solid quarterback in Jordan Love and the bulldozer that is Josh Jacobs, but they belong in the fourth spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: We\u2019ve got some time to kill entering Bears training camp, leaving plenty of time to ponder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[41452,374,1035,692,391,2493,1475,7,2780,41453,6,2495],"class_list":{"0":"post-191078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-amon-st-brown","9":"tag-bears","10":"tag-ben-johnson","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-bears","13":"tag-chicagobears","14":"tag-dj-moore","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-justin-jefferson","17":"tag-nfc-north-power-rankings","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-rome-odunze"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114818045953414719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}