Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I DO NOT FOLLOW ANY OF THESE TEAMS. These are just my own observations. I could even be wrong about the placement of a few players (I was looking at Yahoo's depth charts and rosters).
Here's how I think the positions stack up.
QB: Bears > Lions > Vikings.
Cutler > Stafford > Webb.
Easy one here.
RB: Vikings > Bears > Lions.
Peterson/Gerhart > Forte/Taylor > Best/Morris.
This one was pretty easy too. I am a fan of Best's but until he can stay healthy and prove he was worth that first round pick I can't put him ahead of Forte.
WR: Vikings > Lions > Bears.
Rice/Harvin/Berrian > C.Johnson/Burleson/B.Johnson > Hester/Knox/Aromashodu.
Another easy one. The only way the Lions come close is because Johnson is easily the most talented WR on all three teams. That's the same reason I like their group better than the Bears group.
OL: ?
I don't even want to have to pick this. I know nothing about the Lions line and I know for certain that the Bears line is pretty awful. The Vikings line is old on one side and soft all around. I guess the Lions are the best then?
DL: Lions > Bears > Viking.
Vanden Bosch/Suh/Williams/Avril > Peppers/Harris/Adams/Idonije > Allen/Williams/?/Edwards.
Close one here. Vikings are down because of Pat probably retiring and Kevin's suspension. The Bears nab second because of Peppers.
LB: Bears > Vikings > Lions.
Tinoisamoa/Urlacher/Briggs > Greenway/Henderson/Leber > Palmer/Levy/Peterson.
By next season all three of the Bears linebackers will be over 30 years old.
CB: Vikings> Bears > Lions.
Winfield/Griffen/Sheppard > Tillman/Jennings/Bowman > Houston/Vasher/Hill.
I like Bowman for the Bears but this one is still pretty easy. Although Frank Walker is on the Vikings...
S: Bears > Vikings > Lions.
Manning/Harris > Williams/Abdullah > Delmas/Spievey.
Bears have the more stable safeties but the Lions have two very young guys that are talented and coming on strong.
Now if I give 3 points to a team for ranking first in a category and 1 point for ranking last here's how the points add up:
Bears: 16
Vikings: 15
Lions: 11
Bears: I think they overachieved last season. Lovie was coaching for his job. He brought Martz in who let Cutler get absolutely killed. They rarely utilized their second best pass-catching threat in Greg Olsen. Their defense is aging with 7 starters at or over 30 (Peppers, Idonije, Adams, Briggs, Tinoisamoa, Urlacher, Tillman) and the other four at 27 (Jennings), 28 (T. Harris), or 29 (C. Harris, D. Manning). Their WR's leave much to be desired, their line is porous and their QB doesn't seem to care. It seems like the perfect team to pick for a collapse. I'm not even talking about losing more games than last season, I'm talking epic free fall collapse proportions here.
Vikings: I honestly think this team has a chance. If they can find a plug-in QB they could be set for a wild-card run. Leslie Frazier seemed to have command of this team at the end of the season leading them to a 3-3 record with a surprising upset at Philadelphia on prime time. Rookie QB Joe Webb in his debut beat Michael Vick. Without the ridiculous sideshow (Favre shenanigans, Childress firing) going on and with the addition of, at the very least, a temporary stadium/moving resolution we could see a more focused team. Jared Allen could get back on his horse and give this defense a nasty look once again. Plus there is amazing young talent on the offense. Just downright awesome. If you were building a team and had to pick all your offensive position players from one team which team would you pick? I bet Minnesota wouldn't be far from the top on that list. They probably would only lose to GB in the NFC North and even then not by much because of GB's lack of a consistent run threat. With motivation, focus, a decent QB and an early spur of motivation the Vikings could be a big threat. If not, they may end up at the bottom of the division once again.
Lions: I really like what Jim Schwartz and company are doing here. They have almost completely retooled the roster and brought in guys that fit their own desired framework. The team is working hard and you can tell the culture in the locker room has changed. On defense the line is probably one of the best in the league and they have a lot of young complimentary players filling in the gaps. Their offense is young and talented with Stafford, Johnson, Best and Pettigrew. However, they haven't had the consistency at the QB position nor the time to build chemistry with one another. That is my one biggest reason for picking against the Lions. I don't necessarily disagree with people that have them on the playoff bubble but right now I just can't see them making that big of a leap this year. I think they'll finally shake the stench of their losing seasons by being a legitimate opponent against any team they face but they still need more time for everyone to be on the same page. We saw it as Packer fans with all the young talent Thompson collected. Sure, we played well and made it pretty far one year but it takes a while to get steam building into a new program. Year two is when a team starts to show signs of being competent, year three is when a team expects to start being good, and year four is usually when they make that leap. This is year three for Schwartz so I see them being a good competitor and tough adversary but I don't seem them holding on long enough to sneak into a playoff position. Not with their level of inexperience anyway.