The ESPN Fantasy Football crew is counting down the days until the season begins! This summer, we've looked at each NFL division with a focus on what is new, old and perhaps quite a bit in between!
Click below to check out your favorite division:
AFC East | AFC North | AFC South | AFC West
NFC East | NFC North | NFC South | NFC West
NFC North
Key fantasy offseason movement
--Two teams drastically changed their quarterback situations, while a third team is in some degree of limbo. The Chicago Bears said goodbye to the erratic Mitchell Trubisky, once the No. 2 pick in the 2017 draft. The time had clearly come. Chicago signed stopgap Andy Dalton to replace him, with former Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles still around and ... then they traded up for Ohio State star Justin Fields in the draft? Awkward! Perhaps Fields starts in Week 1, perhaps not, but he is the future. One of Dalton or Foles may be gone before September.
--Then there are the Detroit Lions, sans a playoff win since the Harry S. Truman administration. OK, so that is some hyperbole, but it was the 1991 season and that still is a long time ago. Matthew Stafford, winless in three career playoff games, went to the Los Angeles Rams while Jared Goff, who played in a Super Bowl quite recently, comes aboard along with several first-round picks. Good for the rebuilding Lions, really. They signed a very enthusiastic new coach in Dan Campbell, let free agent Kenny Golladay walk and they welcome a new error. Um, a new era.
--The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings were rather quiet in their moves this offseason, though we should point out for the Packers, the offseason may be far from over.
Something to prove
--Running backs are the fantasy calling card of this division, as the Vikings' Dalvin Cook, Bears' David Montgomery and Packers' Aaron Jones each finished among the top five scoring running backs in ESPN standard PPR leagues. The starter missing from the group is Lions talent D'Andre Swift, and many believe he crashes that high-scoring party this season. Perhaps Cook needs to prove durable enough to play every week, Montgomery that he can thrive again as a pass catcher with Tarik Cohen returning and Jones that he deserves his big contract and can hold off AJ Dillon. Swift just needs to play.
--As for the wide receivers, the Packers and Bears employ legitimate stars in Davante Adams and Allen Robinson II, respectively, and entering last season the Vikings' Adam Thielen was right with them for value. Now Thielen may slide from sure-fire WR2 contention on draft day. Thielen had no problem catching Kirk Cousins touchdown passes in 2020 (14 of them), thanks to myriad red zone targets, but rookie Justin Jefferson otherwise overshadowed him in fantasy.
--Then there are the Lions, who replaced Golladay (now with the New York Giants) with journeymen Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman. Yep, those veterans top the wide receiver depth chart, along with Quintez Cephus and rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown. Goff has much to prove, but unless tight end T.J. Hockenson turns into Travis Kelce, it may be tough! Buoyed by an improved offensive line (Oregon's Penei Sewell landed here), the Lions may simply have Goff hand the football off 50 times per game, and it may work.
Whose fantasy stock may fluctuate?
--If one is drafting today, does one feel confident that defending league MVP Aaron Rodgers will play this fall? The disgruntled Rodgers has made his displeasure for the Packers organization quite clear this offseason, leaving the door open for potentially demanding a trade or even walking away from the sport all together. Perhaps he returns and wins another MVP award. Should fantasy managers go for it with a fantasy star like Rodgers among the top 10 quarterbacks on draft day or play it safer with someone such as the competent Stafford? Inexperienced Jordan Love, who did nothing wrong when the Packers controversially chose him in the first round of 2020, could become relevant quickly.
--If Rodgers is not starting Week 1 for the Packers, chances are fantasy managers may cool on making Adams, who led wide receivers in PPR scoring in 2020, among the top receivers in drafts. Perhaps similarly, one could certainly argue the Bears' Robinson would initially be better off with a veteran passer, but Robinson has overcome shoddy quarterback play (hello Blake Bortles) his entire career, so it should not matter much. Neither the Packers nor Bears boast an obvious second wide receiver for fantasy managers to covet, but someone such as Green Bay rookie Amari Rodgers (no relation) or rejuvenated new Bear Marquise Goodwin may emerge when coaches and personnel feed reporters all the good summer information.