NFL podcaster Dave Dameshek (he's worked at so many I couldn't tell you where he works now) has an interesting theory that every NFL team has a few "Jenga" players without whom the whole team would fall apart, or, I guess, down. That theory was sort of proven correct with the Lions last season, they lost Aidan Hutchinson (along with about 17 secondary players to be fair) and their defense couldn't hack it in the playoffs. Let's take a look at a few Jenga players for the inferior NFC North teams.
Chicago Bears
The Bears are a hard one. The obvious answer would be Caleb Williams, but it's not really sporting to pick a QB, since it's so obvious, and if you listen to Tyson Bagent's dad you know it ain't Caleb. So, for offense, I'm actually going to go with Rome Odunze.
DJ Moore is good when he's locked in and not mad about missed throws. DeAndre Slow is meh. The offensive line is problematic. So that leaves Odunze. If Odunze breaks out and plays like a top-10 pick, the Bears could have a legitimately good offense. If he gets hurt or is also meh, I just don't see how their offense can be that good—too many issues.
On defense, I thought about Jaylon Johnson and it was Montez Sweat over the past season and a half, but I'm going to go with Dayo Odeynigbo. Dayo, who was famously paid $4mm for every sack he had last year, is supposed to eb the edge who takes this defense to the next level. Having a second who can actually disrupt the passer will allow the team to play tight man coverage like Dennis Allens wants and will take pressure off Sweat.
Minnesota Vikings
Remember when I said it wasn't sporting to take a QB? I'm taking JJ McCarthy for the Vikings. Look, they've got plenty of depth everywhere else. Justin Jefferson is amazing but if he goes down they can gameplan around it and stay in games. If they don't catch lightning in the bottle again with McCarthy this whole thing could quickly go downhill.
The defense is geared toward being aggressive and forcing turnovers. If they make some mistakes being aggressive and don't have the offensive firepower to come back, it's over. McCarthy is one of the few players who could be responsible for an eight-game swing in potential wins. If he's bad, the team will be bad. But if he plays like CJ Stroud, Jayden Daniels, Pat Mahomes or any one of the QBs who has broken out at a young age recently, the Vikings could easily get 14 wins.
On defense, they've got plenty of good players. I think the Jenga piece is Jonathan Greenard. Greenard is the guy who creates pressure on his own. They're hoping that Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave will do that from inside, but they can't play every down. If Greenard gets hurt, they might have to resort to insane zone blitzes and creeper pressures every snap. This is fun to watch and freaks out the first few teams but then the NFL figures it out and they start giving up 500 yards every game.
Detroit Lions
The Lions guys are obvious: Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell.
We know Hutchinson is one because we saw it happen last year. Edges are extremely important, as we've shown by picking one for each team, and Hutchinson is one of the best three or four edges in the league when he's on. If he's not good this year or reinjures his leg, it will transform the whole defense.
Sewell might be even more important. This offense is built around running the ball and keeping Jared Goff clean. If they can't do one of those things they'll be average, if they can't do either they'll fall off a cliff.
They already lost Frank Ragnow and have a frightening interior o-line and left tackle Taylor Decker is entering his tenth season. They'll definitely be good on the o-line with all-world Sewell at right tackle but if he goes so does the offense.