NFC Notes: Camryn Bynum, D.J. Reader, Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic answered some of the biggest questions surrounding the Bears as they gear up for training camp. 

• Fishbain named DL Emmanuel Ogbah, Jerry Hughes, and Yannick Ngakoue as potential veteran depth additions up front.
• The battle at C between Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton is the biggest position competition going into camp, per Fishbain. 
• Behind first-round QB Caleb Williams, Fishbain is okay going with QBs Tyson Bagent and Brett Rypien and doesn’t believe there’s a veteran out there who would help Williams without a desire for playing time. 

Lions

Detroit signed DT D.J. Reader in free agency to play alongside DT Alim McNeill on the defensive front. McNeill described how he thinks they’ll perform together and talked about being a fan of Reader for a long time. 

“In my head it just looks like destruction, to me, honestly,” McNeill said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s website. “There’s no other way I can see it. Every time I close my eyes and visualize it, I just see destruction, honestly.”

“I’ve been watching DJ since I was younger, it’s crazy I play with him now. I’ve been watching DJ for a long time now, him being from Greensboro, watched him through Clemson and Houston, and everywhere, so it’s wild. But I see destruction.”

Vikings

Vikings S Camryn Bynum fully expects that his team will be competing for a Super Bowl in 2024, despite having some new faces on both offense and defense. 

“I expect a Super Bowl. Everybody says that, and everybody should say that,” Bynum said on NFL Network. “But you look at the guys on the team, you look at the locker room, all the experience we have. Look how much depth we have, especially on the defense. So many guys. It’s almost weird looking around, you’re like, OK how are we all going to get on the field? There’s just so many ballers. You look at the offense. There’s a baller at every position when you look across the whole board. That’s why I’m confident when I say I expect us to be a Super Bowl team. But really, our preparation has to tell it all. You say that every year. Every team says that every year, but we have to put all these names and everything. We have to make it real.”