Issue #274: NFC North
By Derrick Ernst
May 10, 2026
CHI
Link to ESPN’s Depth Charts homepage: NFL depth charts for all 32 teams
Last year offensive stat rankings:
Points/gm: 25.7 (9th in NFL)
Pass yds/gm: 233.4 (8th in NFL)
Rush yds/gm: 142.3 (3rd in NFL)
“Core Four” fantasy assets:
QB: Caleb Williams
RB: D’Andre Swift
RB: Kyle Monangai
WR: Rome Odenze
Honorable mentions:
WR: Luther Burden
TE: Colston Loveland
Pro Football Network released their updated offensive line rankings following the draft and CHI came in 2nd in the league: NFL Offensive Line Rankings 2026: How Does Each Team Stack Up?
That’s CHI’s foundation and when you look at how they fared last season in offensive stat categories, it’s no surprise they had the success they did. I’m not expecting that success to go away anytime soon. When you think about it, fantasy success begins and ends with the guys who don’t see the limelight (aka the guys whose name you don’t hear on Sunday). CHI has this. They also have a HC who has a bit of momentum behind him. There’s no denying the impact Ben Johnson has had. I don’t think many anticipated that he’d have a bit of Dan Campbell intensity in him — the kind that’s easy to get behind. And when it leads to success, it’s no longer viewed as mockery, but a respective approach.
I speak about the consistency of D. Swift every year and that can continue after posting a RB14 effort last season. In his six seasons, he has never failed to finish worse than RB23. What’s most impressive to me is that he has been able to do this while playing across three different teams. If there was a season where that streak ends, I think it could be the one upcoming.
I’ll make it public now, K. Monangai is my favorite sleeper pick of ’26.
Between he and Swift, they rushed the ball almost 400 times in ’25! That amount of groundwork takes pressure off a QB. C. Williams went from QB15 his rookie season to QB7 last year. I have a sneaky suspicion that he’ll be even better in ’26 and might I dare say, be the first CHI QB to throw for 4,000 yards too.
DET
Last year offensive stat rankings:
Points/gm: 28.3 (4th in NFL)
Pass yds/gm: 254.2 (3rd in NFL)
Rush yds/gm: 120.1 (13th in NFL)
“Core Four” fantasy assets:
QB: Jared Goff
RB: Jahmyr Gibbs
WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR: Jameson Williams
Honorable mentions:
RB: Isiah Pacheco
TE: Sam LaPorta
The joke is on you if you thought DET’s offense would struggle with Ben Johnson’s departure. DET averaged more PPG in just one of Johnson’s three seasons as OC (2022-24) than they did in ’25.
I think the fantasy story for DET is rather simple — stick with the core:
J. Goff has been a top-10 fantasy QB over the past four seasons — and hasn’t missed a single game in that span either
J. Gibbs has been RB3 and RB4 over the last two seasons and has never failed to rush for less than 10 TDs/season
A. St. Brown has finished as WR3 in each of the last three seasons
J. Williams has gone WR18 and WR9 the last two years having had 1,000+ receiving yards and 7 TDs in each
Where does S. LaPorta fit in all this? On the outside looking in. DET ranked second to last (31st) in the league last season targeting TEs. Where did CHI rank? 10th. Perhaps that’s the one thing that went with Ben Johnson to CHI. Until we see consistent looks go LaPorta’s way (which we likely won’t unless one of the WRs misses time), I’m fine having someone else in your league take the bait in drafting him.
GB
Last year offensive stat rankings:
Points/gm: 23.2 (14th in NFL)
Pass yds/gm: 218.8 (15th in NFL)
Rush yds/gm: 118.7 (15th in NFL)
“Core Four” fantasy assets:
QB: Jordan Love
RB: Josh Jacobs
WR: Christian Watson
TE: Tucker Kraft
Honorable mentions:
WR: Jayden Reed
WR: Matthew Golden
Based on last year’s ranking, GB couldn’t have been more middle of the road. And it felt like that too. Despite some big names, they didn’t do much to justify their draft positions. J. Love finished QB15. J. Jacobs finished RB15. C. Watson finished WR43, although he played in only 10 games. T. Kraft was the lone bright spot and if I’m not mistaken, he was TE1 on the season for a week or two before tearing his ACL in Week 9. Excluding Kraft, I’m looking at GB as a team full of fantasy compliments.
What I mean by that is you shouldn’t draft any GB player as your “1” at a position. I don’t think their pre-draft fantasy rankings will vary too much from this thought either. A good thing — you’re getting a player at their perceived value. Before finishing 14th in PPG last season, GB ranked 8th in the two seasons before. Again, this is their talent willing their way, which if I know anything from watching GB ball over the years, it’s that they are also competitive. Their will to win + maintaining competitiveness = a good combo to have players on your fantasy team possess. In other Packers news:
MIN
Last year offensive stat rankings:
Points/gm: 20.2 (26th in NFL)
Pass yds/gm: 166.7 (29th in NFL)
Rush yds/gm: 108.3 (23rd in NFL)
“Core Four” fantasy assets:
QB: Kyler Murray
RB: Jordan Mason
WR: Justin Jefferson
WR: Jordan Addison
Honorable mentions:
WR: Jauan Jennings
TE: TJ Hockenson
We’ll start here:
Is it too outlandish to say MIN has the best WR trio in the NFL? On paper it looks good, but we haven’t seen three MIN WRs have fantasy relevance in the same season in…never? I do believe MIN is the sneakiest team of the NFC North. They finished above .500 last year, but no one, including JJ had a fantasy season to write home about.
This season all hinges on the play of K. Murray. His skillset is unlike any we’ve seen from a QB in a KOC-led offense. Any football fan should be excited about what he might be able to unleash from a player who has notoriously been knocked for his lack of effort. Let me remind everyone that Murray was a top-10 QB in each of his first three seasons in the league. He has struggled to stay on the field since and my guess is that he’ll miss some time this year too. J. Mason may prove to be a sleeper in ‘26. He was a more proficient runner than A. Jones was last season. In 61 career games, he averages 5.1 YPC! Hockenson presents a unique case study too. From 2022-24, Murray was 4th in the NFL in targeting TEs. Even in a new system, prior tendencies will still be familiar for Kyler to lean on. It feels due for TJ.
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