Bears

• Madden cover athlete QB Caleb Williams ranked No. 10 on Jeremy Fowler‘s list of top quarterbacks heading into 2026, with one anonymous GM saying the following: “He’s the most dynamic of the group. He’s got the arm talent and overall athleticism suited for today’s game…He’s a closer. End of games, he has shown that.”
• A veteran NFL defensive coach added the following on Williams: “Wildly erratic. Doesn’t always take the layups and still needs to mature into the position. [He] has some of those ‘what is he doing?’ plays. But he also makes plays only he and Mahomes can make. [He] can throw from any angle, deceptively fast when forced to scramble, and he’s got the ‘it’ factor in crunch time.”
• On Jeremy Fowler‘s cornerback list, Jaylon Johnson of the Bears received an honorable mention from one anonymous NFL personnel evaluator: “Time on task has been an issue. He missed a lot of camp and game action. But he’s young (27), so he should be able to get back to his top form. He’s got juice when he’s full tilt.”

Packers

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler listed the top quarterbacks heading into 2026, with Packers QB Jordan Love only receiving an honorable mention from a veteran offensive coach and an NFC scout: “Control of the offense, protection and route adjustments, he has really grown in those areas.” “I don’t think he gets enough credit for playing the position consistently well, and he has got the athletic traits to match it.”
• Fowler‘s list of elite pass rushers had Micah Parsons ranked at number two: “Elite burst and closing speed to make plays. [He] has the most rush versatility of the group. Consistently wins over centers and guards and tackles, it doesn’t matter where he is,” a veteran NFL defensive coach said. “There are two guys that never really get blocked in the NFL, and it’s those two guys — Myles and Micah. You do what you can with movements and quick game, and it’s not enough.”

Vikings

The Vikings are set to have a QB training-camp battle between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota HC Kevin O’Connell wants to elevate the position this offseason, regardless of who wins the job.

“I’m not really familiar with a closed competition,” O’Connell said on The Dan Patrick Show. “I’ve heard that everyone’s fascinated with that aspect of it, but here’s what I would say. … Really the goal going into this offseason was to elevate the quarterback position because when we have a certain standard of play that we feel like we have multiple guys in that room that we feel are capable of reaching that standard, the Minnesota Vikings win football games. The best way to achieve that is having a daily attempt to have guys push each other and not just always need the outside noise or not always need what the narratives may be.”

O’Connell feels that the addition of Murray, along with QB Carson Wentz, will only help McCarthy in the long run.

“Kyler has come in and done a great job. J.J., I think, has benefit[ed] from it; he’s had a really good spring. Carson Wentz is this veteran quarterback in the room. As a guy who’s played seven or eight quarterbacks in four years, the two years we had our starter play the whole season, we won 13 and 14 games. So we want to try to get back to the standard of having the quarterback position be a driving force behind us winning by doing their job, by hopefully activating the great players they get to play with.”