Ranking the NFC North's Secondaries
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While the NFL continues to shift toward an offensive league, the principles of playing good defense will never totally fade away.
As receivers continue to be targeted more often by their quarterbacks, having a good secondary gets more important by the day.
Without further ado, let’s rank the secondaries in the NFC North:
4.) Detroit Lions
The 4,551 passing yards that the Lions allowed last season were the most in the NFL.
This isn’t a statistic that the secondary should take total blame for, though.
The pass-rush was anemic, and naturally, the longer your corners are on an island, the more difficult it’ll be to hold off opposing receivers.
The selection of Jeff Okudah with the No. 3 overall pick in this past April's NFL Draft and the signing of veteran corner Desmond Trufant are promising additions.
Veteran safety Duron Harmon was also a valuable acquisition. He could potentially become a mentor for the likes of Will Harris and Tracy Walker moving forward.
Speaking of mentors, the Lions did bring in a new defensive coordinator in Cory Undlin -- the former defensive backs coach in Philadelphia.
The timing of this coaching move perfectly coincides with the drafting of Okudah and the development of other young players, such as Justin Coleman.
The issue for the Lions lies in the uncertainty.
They traded away their shutdown corner Darius Slay, and added pieces in his place.
But, we still aren’t entirely sure if the defensive line will put more pressure on the quarterback next season.
For Detroit fans, it’s more of a “we’ll believe it when we see it” situation after what took place last season.
3.) Minnesota Vikings
The departures of Mackensie Alexander, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes this offseason leave both starting cornerback positions up for grabs, and create an opening at slot corner.
The Vikings were a decent pass defense a year ago, ranking No. 7 in the NFL in net yards per passing attempt and compiling 17 interceptions -- good for third best in the NFL.
Similar to Detroit, the uncertainty at defensive back -- until we see it on the field -- puts Minnesota in a difficult position.
Twenty-three-year-old Mike Hughes is expected by most to step into one of the starting cornerback roles, in addition to Holton Hill.
The strength of the Vikings' defense is their safety tandem of Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith.
According to Pro Football Focus, they were the two highest-graded safeties in coverage last season.
Minnesota also drafted standout TCU corner Jeff Gladney in the first round of the 2020 draft.
The Vikings are set at safety, but it’s still to be determined how they’ll perform at the cornerback spot this upcoming season.
2.) Green Bay Packers
The Packers finished a respectable 14th in pass defense last season, along with doubling their interception total from seven to 14.
Green Bay appears to be on the rise defensively, with a core of very talented and still relatively young players in the defensive backfield.
The conversation begins with the elite tandem of Jaire Alexander and Kevin King at the cornerback spots.
The 23-year-old Alexander is a candidate to have a breakout season in what will be his third year in the NFL, after starting all 16 games for the first time in 2019.
The 25-year-old King ended last season on a high note, and should continue to make strides under new defensive backs coach Jerry Gray.
Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage are two of the Packers' safeties who will see a lot of snaps in 2020.
Unlike Detroit, Green Bay’s secondary is expected to benefit from a stellar defensive line.
1.) Chicago Bears
The Bears certainly took a step back as a team in 2019, going from 12-4 to 8-8.
Injuries hurt Chicago, and the offense didn’t help much, either.
The Bears will hope to return to the form of 2018, in which they tallied a league-best 36 takeaways -- a number that dropped to 19 last season.
Nonetheless, the Bears did allow the least amount of passing yards in the NFC North last season (3,554, which was good for ninth best in the league).
Kyle Fuller returns after having been one the NFL’s most consistent corners over the past few years. But, Prince Amukamura, his partner on the opposite side of the field, has departed to Las Vegas; thus, leaving a spot to fill for Chicago.
Veteran Buster Skrine and Jaylon Johnson, the Bears’ top 2020 draft pick, should provide some depth at corner, and could both be candidates for starting roles.
Chicago lost Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to free agency, but filled that free safety void with a familiar face in Eddie Jackson.
The two-time Pro Bowler moves over from strong safety into a position where his timely instincts led him to eight interceptions, four forced fumbles and five defensive touchdowns through his first two seasons.
The Bears' secondary won’t have to worry about the defensive line hanging it out to dry in 2020.
Chicago is expected to bolster one of, if not, the best front sevens in the NFL.
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