When you think of the NFC North, you probably don’t think of it because of the tight end play.
The best tight end in the division is probably Minnesota’s Kyle Rudolph. Other names include Detroit’s T.J. Hockenson, Chicago’s Jimmy Graham and Green Bay’s Jace Sternberger, although the Packers could be in talks for an upgrade.
I honestly forgot Jimmy Graham was in the league before writing this.
In his divisional tight end rankings, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports has the NFC North ranked seventh, ahead of only the AFC East.
Here’s a bit of what Benjamin wrote about the NFC North:
If this were 2016, the North might be near the top of the list, but Rudolph and Graham — once among the league’s best — are both at different stages in their careers. Graham still has the body to be an impact red-zone target but really fell off in Green Bay, while Rudolph remains trusty but is unlikely to regularly eclipse 500 yards if Smith Jr. and new WR Justin Jefferson step up. In Detroit, Hockenson and James should be a solid duo if healthy. But Chicago is a grab-bag of middling or unproven talent, and the Packers are putting a lot of stock in Sternberger, who missed all of 2019, or a 36-year-old Marcedes Lewis to replace Graham.
As far as the Vikings are concerned, I would imagine this will be the season in which we’ll see less of Rudolph and more of Irv Smith Jr., although with Gary Kubiak’s offensive scheme, we’ll likely see plenty of both of them.
You can check out Benjamin’s full rankings here.