The NFC North was arguably the best division in the NFL last season – at least during the regular season. The Detroit Lions had the best record in the NFC at 15-2 and tied for the best record in the NFL with the Chiefs. The Minnesota Vikings were right behind at 14-3 while the Green Bay Packers made the playoffs with a highly respectable 11-6 record. The Chicago Bears fell badly and finished in last place in the division with a 5-12 mark.

The Lions lost offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, CB Carlton Davis and OG Kevin Zeitler. Johnson was considered the architect of Detroit’s explosive offense and he has moved on to become the Chicago Bears head coach. Glenn has become the New York Jets head coach.

While both these losses will have an impact, they still have head coach Dan Campbell and he clearly sets the tone for this team. The drafting of DL Tyleik Williams could be a dynamic move for the Lions as edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson returns from the broken leg that knocked him out of action early in the 2024 season.

The pass rush was an area the Lions wanted to improve after last season and they may have done just that. However, the losses of their coordinators is their biggest concern going into the 2025 season.

The Vikings exceeded all expectations for the first 17 weeks of the season as head coach Kevin O’Connell led the team to a 14-2 record. While losses in the regular-season finale to the Lions and the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams were a cold slap in the face, it was clear the Vikings had built an explosive team.

The biggest concern for the Vikings is obvious as quarterback Sam Darnold has left for the Seattle Seahawks and second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy is slated to take over as the team’s QB1.

While all reports about McCarthy are positive and that he has recovered from the torn meniscus that knocked him out for the season in the year’s first preseason game, he is an unproven commodity. The Vikings have the highest aspirations for the 2025 season, yet they don’t know what they have at the QB1 position.

On the personnel front, the Vikings have added C Ryan Kelly and OG Will Fries to upgrade the offensive line and they also drafted Ohio State OG Donovan Jackson. The team has also added DT Jonathan Allen and DL Javon Hargrave to give the defensive front the kind of nastiness the unit lacked last year.

The Green Bay Packers have the ability to sneak up on both the Lions and the Vikings this year. They did not get the kind of production from their passing game that they anticipated last year, and that means the pressure is on quarterback Jordan Love to bounce back to the level he showed in the postseason two years ago when the Packers blitzed the Dallas Cowboys and nearly upset the San Francisco 49ers.

He had a 25-11 TD-interception ratio last year, and that was 7 TDs fewer than the previous season. The Packers have helped out Love by drafting Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden and TCU pass catcher Savion Williams.

The impact of the passing game is Green Bay’s biggest concern going into the 2025 season.

The Bears have a huge distance to travel and a year after drafting quarterback Caleb Williams they dominated the offseason  with the hiring of Johnson. He was the most sought after head coaching candidate in the offseason and the Bears won his services.

He was hired for multiple reasons, but the development of Williams and the growth of the offense is the most obvious one.

The Bears have supplemented the Johnson hiring by signing offensive guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson in free agency and drafting tight end Colston Loveland from Michigan.

Johnson certainly knows how to communicate with the media and seems to enjoy his Q&A sessions, but it may prove more difficult to turn Williams into the All-Pro quarterback the team expected when they made him the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft.

The development of Williams into a winning NFL quarterback is the team’s biggest concern this season.