The Chicago Bears won the NFC North for the first time in too long last season, and since then, accolades have been pouring in for the players assembled by Ryan Poles. The NFC North in 2025 was one of the only a couple divisions in the Super Bowl era to have every team finish the regular season with a record above .500. From top to bottom, the division is full of talented, hungry teams. While Chicago won the North in 2025, it would not have taken much for things to have turned out differently. It’s
important to acknowledge that.
Thus, in the name of honoring worthy opponents, here are the most underrated players on the other teams in the NFC North.
What do I mean by underrated? Well, there are no Pro Bowlers on this list, even though in every case I can find at least one recent season where they should have been considered. They are questioned by the league in general–and maybe even their own fanbase–despite having proven themselves capable of making an impact. Most of them were left off the voting list by the recent ESPN survey of industry insiders–and none of them made the top ten. However, it ultimately comes down to this–these are players who I think make more of a difference in the game than they are credited with.
#5) Alim McNeil, iDL (Lions)
I’ll admit that I’ve liked McNeil since he was a draft prospect in 2021. This is what I said about him back then: “I have this fear that in a few years I’m going to see him lined up opposite Chicago and he’s going to make the teams that passed on him pay.” Was I right?
Superficially, no. McNeil has never earned a Pro Bowl nod, he’s never had more than five sacks in a season, and he’s never managed double-digit tackles for a loss. In 2024, he was inside of the top twenty for defenders in quarterback hurries, but while “nice”, it’s not indicative of earth-shattering talent.
However, for the last two seasons he has had an average depth of tackle of 1.1 and 1.4 yards. His career hurry percentage is 4.8%. Byron Murphy II is at 2.4 yards and 4.7%, for example; Jalen Carter is at 1.7 and 6.5%. In short, McNeil is not making the flashy plays that impact the stat line and give boxscore scouts a reason to sing his praises, but he is absolutely making reliable stops and getting pressure on the other side. If he stays healthy for all of 2026, I hope the Bears have an answer in mind for him.
#4) Eric Wilson, LB (Vikings)
Jonathan Greenard and Dallas Turner have received a lot of attention for their contributions on the Minnesota defense, but at least some praise should be reserved for Erik Wilson. Wilson started his career with the Vikings but bounced around the league a little (including spending time in Green Bay) before landing again in Minnesota for the 2025 season. And had the Vikings simply had a true starting quarterback, he might have earned a Pro Bowl nod for the season he had at linebacker. He managed 17 tackles for a loss and four forced fumbles along with 6.5 sacks. His pressure rate was also ridiculous, but as always what does and does not count as a pressure varies heavily from database to database.
Despite this, Wilson did not even receive any votes as a top off-the-ball linebacker in ESPN’s recent league survey. This, then, is why I consider him underrated. It is not that I believe he deserves consideration for 1st-Team All-Pro, but rather that there are twenty other off-ball linebackers rated ahead of him, apparently, and that just doesn’t match his impact on the field.
#3) Zach Tom, OT (Packers)
Another player I was hoping the Bears would draft, Tom has played clean football in his time in Green Bay, with an absurdly low 0.3% penalty rate. Sports Information Solutions claims that he has been responsible for 0.6% sack rate during his career. How good is that? It’s tied with Laremy Tunsil and Trent Williams. ESPN reports his pass block win rate at 95%, good for 6th-best in the league. Pro Football Focus scored him as the 7th-best offensive tackle in the league last year.
However, Tom has never made it to the Pro Bowl, he wasn’t even an honorable mention on ESPN’s list of top tackles. Injury might explain his absence this year, but Tom has been a remarkable bookend since 2023.
#2) Jameson Williams, WR (Lions)
Look, off the field, Williams has had struggles with gambling, and he has been suspended for violations of league policies involving performance-enhancing substances. I understand why it is easier for fans and talking heads to praise Amon-Ra St. Brown–leaving aside St. Brown’s dominant play. However, Williams himself is ridiculously good.
He just finished his second season with more than a thousand yards from scrimmage, and he was ninth in the league for total EPA–the only wide receiver in the top ten who didn’t enjoy at least a 20% target share. Of receivers with at least 100 targets, he is tied at the top of the leader board (with Jaxon Smith-Njigba) for 11 yards per target. He was sixteenth in the league with 47 receiving first downs despite being 35th in targets. Put simply, he’s an efficient game-changer, and on nearly any other team he’d be the leading receiver. He was at least listed on the ESPN survey as an honorable mention at receiver, but he’s actually better than that.
#1) Jordan Love, QB (Packers)
Look, I don’t want it to be true. It seems brutally unfair that the Packers have had an uninterrupted succession of good quarterback play, but here are the simple facts. Not only is Love the only of the starting quarterbacks from his draft class without a Pro Bowl, he is perhaps the most consistent quarterback in the league not to at least receive discussion for Most Valuable Player, Offensive Player of the Year, or All-Pro.
Since he was drafted in 2020, Jordan Love is 6th overall in adjusted EPA per play (and 5th in overall EPA per play); only five quarterbacks have outplayed him in this time, down-to-down. Just in the playoffs, of the 42 quarterbacks with at least 25 plays over the last six seasons, Love ranks 4th in EPA; this merits repetition–since Jordan Love was drafted, he has been in the top 10% of all quarterbacks in terms of how much value he adds per play to his team in the playoffs. Joe Burrow, drafted 25 spots ahead of him in the same class, ranks 18th. Justin Herbert–who is praised for his potential and has two Pro Bowls–is tied with Mitch Trubisky at 36th.
Love is currently tied for 12th all-time in passer rating, ahead of every member of his draft class not throwing the ball to Ja’Marr Chase. During the last three years he has been 12th, 11th, and 6th overall in the league in passer rating. I understand some skepticism around Love due to his record in the playoffs (which, being real, has more to do with the kicker and the defense than his play), but that answer falls flat when Herbert is praised with the same record (0-3) but with less reliable individual performance. Love is, unfortunately, an elite quarterback. He’s simply treated by many fans and analysts like he’s not.
That’s my list. Now it’s time for you to sound off in the comments below. Which player on another team in the division do you think is underrated?
