Bob McGinn's ALL-NFC NORTH TEAM, Defense & ST: Uncut analysis from NFL scouts
Detroit's injuries were their undoing on D, but there's no questioning the talent. They'll be back. Minnesota has the manpower for Brian Flores' D. Green Bay? It's complicated.
Go Long subscribers can access Bob McGinn’s extensive All-NFC North Team below. The Hall of Fame scribe has covered the NFL since 1979.
How do NFL scouts view this entire division? Here’s the good, bad and ugly.
Also, here are our postmortems on the Packers & Vikings, and the Lions.
By Bob McGinn
The situation was about as bleak as bleak could get for the Detroit Lions four years ago this month.
Six months earlier, in June 2020, Sheila Ford Hamp had replaced her mother, Martha Firestone Ford, as Principal Owner and Chair.
General Manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia were fired on the same day in late November.
The Lions lost their last four games to finish 5-11 and last in the NFC North Division for the third straight season. They hadn’t won a division championship in 27 years.
The defense allowed 519 points, the second most in NFL history.
Not long after the final game, quarterback Matthew Stafford, the face of the franchise, walked in and told management that he couldn’t endure another rebuilding program and asked to be traded.
On Jan. 14, Hamp hired Brad Holmes, the Rams’ director of college scouting, as GM. On Jan. 21, Hamp hired Dan Campbell, the Saints’ assistant head coach, as coach.
The established front offices in the NFC North included GM Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur in Green Bay (13-3), who had worked together for two seasons; GM Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy in Chicago (8-8), who had partnered for three years, and GM Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer in Minnesota (7-9), who had been a team for seven years.
Shortly after the season, four executives in personnel for NFC teams selected an All-NFC North team for The Athletic in my second and last year of employment there. The cupboard, especially on defense, was bare in Detroit.
Of the 22 starting positions, the Lions were last with two compared to the Packers, who dominated with 10 ½. T.J. Hockenson was No. 1 at tight end whereas center Frank Ragnow and right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai tied for first.
On March 17, the Lions traded Stafford to the Rams for Jared Goff, who had worn out his welcome with LA coach Sean McVay after turning the ball over more times than any quarterback in the previous two seasons, two first-round draft choices and one third-round pick.
From a 4-19-1 start, Campbell and Holmes since have gone 37-11 and won back-to-back division titles for the first time in franchise history. Their season in 2023 ended with a blown lead and loss in the NFC Championship Game. This season ended with an upset loss at home as the No. 1 seed in the NFC field.
My All-NFC North team, selected after extensive interviews with four executives well-versed in the division, features 12 Lions among the 22 first-team selections for the second straight year. Ten of those 12 players were Holmes-Campbell acquisitions.
From the draft, the first-team picks chosen by Holmes were tackle Penei Sewell (first round), defensive tackle Alim McNeill (third round) and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (fourth round) in 2021, safety Kerby Joseph (third round) in 2022 and running back Jahmyr Gibbs (first round), tight end Sam LaPorta (second round) and safety Brian Branch (second round) in 2023. Aidan Hutchinson, an edge rusher drafted in the first round in 2022, wasn’t considered because his season was cut short by injury after five games.
From unrestricted free agency, the first-team picks were linebacker Alex Anzalone (2021) and guard Kevin Zeitler (2024).
Via trade, the first-team pick was Goff (2021).
The first-team choices acquired before the Holmes-Campbell regime were left tackle Taylor Decker (first round, 2016) and center Frank Ragnow (first round, 2018).
With 12 first-team choices, Detroit easily outdistanced runner-up Minnesota, which had six; Chicago, which had three, and Green Bay, which had one.
Five positions on special teams also were selected. The Lions swept three of the five categories followed by one each for the Bears and Vikings.
Perhaps a better way to measure a team’s overall strength was to include the second-team players on offense and defense. Under this system, a first-team player was worth two points and a second-team player was worth one.
The Lions led with 28 points compared to 17 for the Vikings, 11 for the Packers and 10 for the Bears. At this time last year, the Lions had 27 points compared to 14 for the Bears, 13 for the Packers and 12 for the Vikings.
Here is a position-by-position look at the defense and special teams in the NFC North.
Part 1 of the series — offense — published at Go Long last week.
ALL-NFC NORTH TEAM
DEFENSE
Defensive line: ALIM McNEILL (Det) and HARRISON PHILLIPS (Minn). Others, in order: Kenny Clark (GB), Gervon Dexter (Chi), D.J. Reader (Det), Jonathan Bullard (Minn), Levi Onwuzurike (Det), Devonte Wyatt (GB), T.J. Slaton (GB), Jalen Redmond (Minn), Jerry Tillery (Minn), Karl Brooks (GB), Colby Wooden (GB), Jihad Ward (Minn), Chris Williams (Chi), Byron Cowart (Chi), Zacch Pickens (Chi).
McNeill suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Game 14. “Was having a great year,” one scout said. “He became a really disruptive force inside with pass-rush ability. When he gets singled up on a guard he can win. One of the best (3-techniques) in the league.”