Windy City Gridiron
In the final article of a five-part roundtable series, the WCG staff ranks the top 50 players in the NFC North heading into 2025.
The 2025 NFL season is a few months away, and the anticipation for the start of the season is at an extremely high level.
As the NFL Network has done their player consensus Top 100 ranking each year, Windy City Gridiron’s staff has put together a roundtable over the last few seasons of the best players in the NFC North. With seven contributors pitching in for this year’s roundtable, there was a strong diversity of opinions that provided for some entertaining rankings.
Before we get started, let’s set up the ground rules. Each WCG participant was asked to send their top 32 players in the NFC North. A player’s ranking determined how many points they would receive (32 points for first, 31 points for second, etc.), and the total points were added up to create the rankings.
Note: Tiebreakers will be broken by whichever player appeared on more ballots. If that total is the same, then the tiebreaker will go to whichever player received the highest ranking on an individual ballot. If that scenario also does not result in a clear winner, ballot organizer Jacob Infante will break the tie.
Best: No. 3 (Orenchuk)
Low: NR (Leming)
Last year: No. 7
Five of the seven ballots were filled out before Ragnow’s retirement, with Leming and Zimmerman being the only exceptions. The latter still included Ragnow in his ballot. Needless to say, he was one of the best centers in the game, and his loss in Detroit’s offense will be sorely missed.
Best: No. 5 (Salo)
Low: No. 16 (Wiltfong)
Last year: No. 23
A prized possession of the Packers’ free agent class last offseason, McKinney absolutely lived up to the hype in 2024. He finished second in the league with eight interceptions and fifth among safeties with 11 pass deflections. He was a first-team All-Pro and proved himself as one of the best defensive backs in the game.
Best: No. 8 (Salo)
Low: No. 15 (Zimmerman)
Last year: NR
Joseph already had a reputation as a ball hawk, intercepting a combined eight passes in his first two seasons. He surpassed that total in just his 2024 season alone, leading the NFL with nine interceptions, returning one back for a touchdown. He was a first-team All-Pro and finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Best: No. 4 (Wiltfong, Orenchuk)
Low: No. 17 (Salo)
Last year: NR
It remains to be seen how Thuney will fare in Year 10 of his career with a new team. However, considering that he’s been a first-team All-Pro in each of the last two seasons, one can assume he’ll maintain an elite level of play and jump from the Chiefs to...
