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Welcome back to HG Spotlight. Continuing to break down the biggest questions, NFC North edition. Questions left and right in this division. Will the Madden curse ring true for the Iceman? Can Kyler Murray reinvent himself? What does that mean for JJ McCarthy? What about the Lions? Where do they stand after a big injury to one of their rookies? The biggest question though is in Green Bay. And that's where we start. We've got the crew pushing the pile. JP Aosta, Mike Rener back with us here breaking down the biggest questions in the NFC North. I mentioned it starting in Green Bay. Micah Parsons yesterday sharing with reporters, excuse me, that he would start the season on the PUP. Doesn't
want to rush the return when it comes to that ACL. JP, I know you and I have talked previously about your excitement of seeing Michael Parsons, Michael Parsons return later this year, but your biggest question for Green Bay is what they do without him in the meantime. Yeah, the biggest question is what happens to the defense if Michael Parsons isn't ready yet. I don't think it was very I think it was very underrated how important Parsons was to this defense. we talked about on the podcast, but the Packers defensive EPA with Michael Parsons on the field is 0.01. Without him on the field, it goes all the way into the negatives. That is a crazy jump for having one player on the field verse off. And I think it's
because of how quickly he forces teams to get the ball out, because of his ability to impact the quarterback, not only as a pass rusher, I think he's under the rate as a run defender and what he does to help lift everybody else on that defense when it comes to creating one-on-one opportunities for everybody else. With Jonathan Ganon now coming over as defensive coordinator, you need aces. And if you don't have your ace ready and Parsons, who's going to step up? Is this going to be Lucas Vaness? Is it going to be Edin Cooper being more of a blitzer? Do you have anybody left on that team that can actually generate some wins and one-on-one opportunities? It's why they were linked to Josh Sweat for so long. So, I'm curious what happens with the
pass rush if Michael Parsons truly isn't going to be ready until October. Yeah, I do think Parson's injury and just injuries in general are my biggest question. How are they going to be able to handle him this year? Because last year, that's what obviously sunk their season. You know, no one's able to handle the losses they had. when you lose Micah Parsons, when you lose Zack Tom, Tucker Craft, Devonte Wyatt, like this team was toast when all those guys went down. But I'm more worried about can they handle minor injuries at other positions now because they lost a lot in free agency. Romeo Dobs, Rasheed Walker, Elton Jenkins, Malik Willis, the list goes on and on. And really the only
position they backfilled at was at linebacker was Zire Franklin. So they while they weren't key pieces in my opinion, you know, they weren't as big as the injuries that they had last year, the guys they lost in free agency, they were still pieces to this football team that you would have rather had around. So if any injuries strike, this team all of a sudden looks really thin. So I'm worried about how they're able to handle those injuries going forward because no one makes it through a season fully healthy. Yeah, very true. Let's move on to the Chicago Bears where Iceman Caleb Williams is coming off the best season of his young career. He earned the title of being on the cover of Madden. I did
ask uh Bears fan Tom Fernelli how he felt about the curse. He literally was not worried about it even in a little bit. So, I'm going to remember that maybe like week eight when and we'll check in with how the Bears are doing. Uh but in the meantime, Mike, what questions do you have when it comes to the Chicago Bears in Chrytown? It's the same question I had last year, and it's how do they pressure opposing quarterbacks? They were third worst in the NFL in pressure rate, and all off season they didn't add a darn thing. their defensive line. This is status quo defensively what they're bringing back. And yeah, maybe they get some guys back from injury, but they did not have a lot of guys attacking the passer last year.
They only had one player in the top 64 in pressures, and that was Montes Sweat, who was 23rd. He's really underperformed the contract they've given him. So, what are they going to do if they can't get after opposing quarterbacks? That was their Achilles heel a year ago. I do think Austin Booker, third-year defensive end, who was young coming out, could be their saving grace in this regard. He could be in for a big leap going forward. But really, I still am worried that this pass rush could be lackluster when it matters most. The podcast synergy is crazy today because my question is, can they get pass rush? Outside of the pressure rate, they're also 21st in sack rate. So even when they were getting pressure, they
weren't able to convert those pressures into negative plays. This Bears defense might truly be the one to answer the question of what matters more, pass rush or pass coverage because I like what they've done in the secondary. They've gotten a lot faster adding Dylan Theamman and Kobe Bryant to that secondary. But none of that is going to matter if they can't get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Like Mike said, Austin Booker is going to be the key there, but I do wonder if they continue to add to that defensive line in free agency. Cam Jordan is a free agent. He worked with Dennis Allen for an extended time in New Orleans. Joey Bosa is still a free agent. Leonard Floyd. None of these are actually like super impactful
at this stage of their careers, but they just add more pass rush to your unit. And I think that they're going to have to do that because they didn't draft a defensive lineman until the sixth round. So, they have a lot of faith in their guys and now it's time to see if that faith is actually warranted. It's wild to think that Austin Booker is going into year three because I was at the combine the year that he was there and he was on our CBS stage. So, thank you, Mike. Mike, you made me feel really old there for a second. Uh let's talk about the Detroit Lions. Uh not great news. They lost their rookie Kendrick Law for the season due to an ACL injury yesterday. So some questions to address
there, but really Mike, it's kind of just an extension of a concern you already had, at least when it comes to the health of the defense in Detroit. Yeah, we've talked about injuries a lot so far in these, but none compare to what the Detroit Lions have suffered on the defensive side of the ball the past two years. That's my biggest question is can they stay healthy defensively? Because not only have they been injured on that side of the ball, they've been the most injured team in terms of snaps lost for two straight seasons. They have been cursed on that side. And even this off season, Brian Branch, Achilles in December, he has
been unsure if he's going to be ready for the season. Kirby Joseph, the other half of the NFL's best safety duo, he has chronic knee issues. No telling if he's going to be ready for the NFL season. So, this off-injured defense is looking like it's going to head into the season off injured once again, which is a tragedy because on paper, if they didn't have that, it would be one of the best defenses in the NFL. But, man, they just cannot stay healthy. And unfortunately, looks like that's going to continue that trend. The Lions sort of remind me of that meme with the person asking for harder battles and they keep giving them more injuries. They keep getting injured.
Yeah, we'll just take away both safeties. But my biggest question is which pass rusher compliments Aiden Hutchinson? That's going to be the biggest question. Has been the biggest question since they drafted Aiden Hutchinson in 2022. They haven't been able to find a consistent pass rushing just the robin to Aiden Hutchinson's Batman. Alcy Muhammad played really well last season. He's now in Tampa Bay. And this is a very pressurebased defense. They want to play man coverage. They want to survive in one-on-one situations. But with how injured this secondary is, I don't know if you can trust a lot of those guys that they have in the uh secondaries. They're going to
have to win up front and force teams to get the ball out quick. So, if it's not Aiden Hutcherson, it's going to have to be rookie Derek Moore, their day two draft pick out of Michigan. He's going to have to step up really quickly because outside of him, I just don't know which edge is going to help them get pressure. Uh I'm so laughing at that meme because it's like, stop giving me your strongest battles and yet the battles just keep piling on. You're right. That does feel like the Detroit Lions. Uh you guys are kind of on the same vein there, that podcast synergy again when it comes to the Minnesota Vikings. I think everybody is wondering what that quarterback position is going to look like. I love
seeing the interaction videos between Kyler Murray and JJ McCarthy because it is so clear that they are very much in a QB battle and nothing further at this time. Um obviously Mike, a lot of questions there. What's your specific question though when it comes to uh Kyler Murray and the Vikings? Yeah, I think it's how he fits into Kevin Oonnell's offense because if you watch JJ McCarthy at all last year, you have a pretty good handle that Kyler Murray's winning this job. For as rough as Murray's been the past couple years, it's still a clear tier better than what we saw from JJ McCarthy. But he hasn't had a good season since 2021. And I think in his best season, he was coaxed into throwing down the field more than
ever. And that's really his strength. That was his strength coming out of Oklahoma. That's one of his superpowers is his ability to attack down the football field. but he really has to be coaxed into it or else he can go into a shell and have some rough games and we saw that the past two years. But he had an 8.3 yard average depth of target back in 2021. That was his careerh high. Kevin Okcon's offense is known for the downfield passing. They a lot of Vikings fans thought I did a little too much in that regard for JJ McCarthy and his skill set. So I do think it'll fit Kyler Murray, but I need to see it before I really believe it.
I definitely agree. My question is, can Kyler Murray really thrive in this offense? And it's really, it's odd because it feels like on paper it should with Kyler Murray's ability with his arm to hit those explosives when you coax him out of him and with Kevin Oonnell, what he did with Sam Darnold and creating those explosives downfield. But it's just about getting him able to work in the middle of the field, trusting his eyes, trusting his uh trusting his ability to throw the ball over the middle of the field. But if he can do that, if he can combine that with some of that improvisational ability, then this Vikings offense should be very good. But if not, then they might be in
the same spot they were at the end of that last season. It's always a conversation, always something up there in Minnesota. Fellas, appreciate the time. Appreciate the podcast synergy there from our push in the pile crew, Mike Rener and JP Aosta. The Lions being given the shortest odds to win the NFC North there. Maybe some injury concerns there with the Packers. Um, surprised to see the Bears uh at that spot. Claudia, what do you think? I don't know. I'm a little worried about the curse, like you said. Worried about the curse. We'll wait and see. Less than 100 days till football.
