One of the things I have enjoyed the most - as I have been going division to division offering up my early bird analysis - is reading your comments and hearing your assessment of the teams and divisions. You are educating me and helping me stay sharp. Just wanted to thank you for that.

For today’s post I am going to take on the the division that is near and dear to my heart, the NFC North. Why is it near and dear you ask? Well my beloved Vikings are a part of this division.

I am going to look at this as objectively as possible BUT as you can imagine, it is almost impossible to write this without some sort of bias.

While on one hand I may think overvalue my team in one category, on the other I am just as afraid of giving them to good of a grade and jinxing them. I am a bit superstitious when it comes to the Vikes to years and years of shattered expectations. They are usually better than expected or worse than expected. I will do my best but feel free to keep me honest.

With that out of the way lets do it. Here are my thoughts on the NFC - and in the words of ESPN’s Chris Berman - Norse;

2008 NFC North Final Standings:

1) Green Bay Packers

2) Minnesota Vikings

3) Chicago Bears

4) Detriot Lions

Thoughts:

Although it is tempting to go Minnesota now that Jared Allen is wearing purple, but I will stick with the Packers (hopefully I am wrong). Basically my choice for division winner comes down to the quarterback. Although it is hard to put all my chips on Aaron Rodgers it is even harder to put my chips on Tavaris Jackson. Both teams have top ten defenses, exceptional o-lines and top shelf play makers on offense.

The Bear offense is a huge question mark - and thats being nice. The defense started to show some vulnerability because the offense stinks. That only leaves them with Devon Hester and unfortunately he can’t do it all.

I wanna put Detroit in the three spot but I’ve bet on them in the past and they just seem to find a way to blow it no matter how good they look on paper.

Fantasy Notes:

Can Aaron Rodgers pick up where Favre left off? All that we really know about Rodgers is what we saw in the Cowboys game last year. What he does in the pre-season will go a long way in determining where he - and his supporting cast - will go in a fantasy draft. Seeing as how it will be an unknown there could be some good value here.

The acquisition of DE Jared Allen easily makes the Vikings defense a top ten fantasy defense (hell, you could make a pretty case for top five). Teamed with two pro bowl tackles, the pressure this line should be able to create will create multiple opportunities to get sacks and create turnovers. I am betting they will command a pretty high draft position in your fantasy draft.

The Bears defense and Devon Hester are about the only stories here. Chicago’s offense is such a huge question mark it is hard to pin point any fantasy value. However, everyone will be flying way under the radar - for good reason - and in my 18 years of experience, these are the types of situations that ussually harbor good value. Keep an eye on the draft, the remainder of free agency and training camp.

With Martz gone I get the feeling that Marineli will take the the offense into more of ball control style offense (if they can play defense… stay tuned). That will devalue Kitna and the receiving corp a bit but could provide an opportunity for a running back.

Kevin Jones is gone and Tatum Bell couldn’t seem to get it going. The Lions are rumoured to be looking running back in the first round and could get one of the blue chippers. A young stud could make some noise here.

Thats it for the North. I’ll be back in a week or so with my thoughts on the NFC South. The draft will be complete at that point so it should be interesting to see how that impacts my selections. For the record I am thinking Saints BUT like I said, we’ll see how the draft pans out. See you next time.

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