The NFC North is not only one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL when it comes to overall records (nobody had a losing record in 2025), but it's also one of the most competitive divisions in football when it comes to, Which team has the best skill position talent?
The NFC North includes a handful of the game's biggest stars at running back, receiver, and tight end, but who will lead each of these teams in targets?
This is going to be such a fun season to see what ultimately develops, because we might have new leaders on two of the four teams for 2026. Even though a couple of players on this list might be low-hanging fruit, let's take a look at every NFC North team's most likely target leader in 2026, and maybe take a stab at predicting how many targets each player will rack up during the course of the season.
Predicting every NFC North team's target leader for the 2026 season
Minnesota Vikings: Justin Jefferson, WR
Predicted targets in 2026: 150+
Here's one of those "low-hanging fruit" picks we were talking about. It's not groundbreaking to predict that Justin Jefferson will lead the Minnesota Vikings in targets this season, but the question might be more about how many targets he actually gets.
Jefferson was targeted 141 times throughout the course of the 2025 season and he's averaged 158 targets per 17 games played over the course of his career. Even if the Vikings' entire group of skill players -- Jordan Addison, Jauan Jennings, TJ Hockenson, the running backs -- is healthy and available all season, it would be malpractice for Jefferson to get fewer than 150 targets.
The issue last season that came up was that teams were ready for all of the targets coming Jefferson's way, and the Vikings couldn't manufacture him as many looks that weren't forced. They threw 10 interceptions when targeting Jefferson last season, double the previous season high in that category.
Jefferson will again be a focal point for the Minnesota offense, but the way they go about getting him involved this season is going to need adjusting.
Detroit Lions: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
Predicted targets in 2026: 160+
I'm going to go out on a "limb" and say that Amon-Ra St. Brown not only leads the Detroit Lions in total targets this season, but that he leads the NFC North (again).
St. Brown was targeted an absurd 172 total times last year, and that feels right for a player with his skill set. He's getting targeted an average of 10 times per game at that rate, and that's the second time in the last three seasons the Lions have given him that many targets on a per game basis.
St. Brown maximizes his targets with a catch percentage over his career of 73.7 percent, and just a 3.6 percent career drop rate. He is coming off of a career-high 10 total drops last season, but the Lions will obviously still trust him with a really high workload all season.
A healthy Sam LaPorta along with the emergence of Isaac TeSlaa could complicate this overall prediction, but St. Brown should be expected to be among the league leaders once again.
Green Bay Packers: Tucker Kraft, TE
Predicted targets in 2026: 80+
With Romeo Doubs and his 85 targets departing for the New England Patriots in NFL Free Agency, the Green Bay Packers will officially have a new leader in the target department for 2026.
Over the past two seasons, Tucker Kraft has averaged 77.5 targets per 17 games played, so we're not exactly making a bold prediction that he will get 80-plus for this season. It might be bold if you are concerned about Kraft's recovery from injury last season, but he's developed into the type of player you can truly feature in the passing game every single week.
The Packers have other players like Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and second-year breakout candidate Matthew Golden about to step up for the passing game as well, but Kraft is probably the safest bet on this team to be consistently featured weekly in the offense.
If you're looking for the surprise or bold prediction, it would be Matthew Golden.
Chicago Bears: Colston Loveland, TE
Predicted targets in 2026: 100+
As a rookie, the Chicago Bears gave tight end Colston Loveland a really big chunk of their overall target share. He had 82 targets last season, finishing just short of the team lead behind Rome Odunze (90) and runner-up DJ Moore (85).
We know Bears head coach Ben Johnson likes to involve a lot of players in his overall offensive gameplan, but Loveland is someone we're expecting to be heavily featured all year. Even with Rome Odunze hopefully making progress, and even with Luther Buden III blossoming into a core piece of the offense as well, Loveland has the skills to be as big of a focal point in Chicago as Brock Bowers is for Las Vegas.
During the playoffs this past year, Loveland was targeted a whopping 25 times in two games. I don't think we're going to see that significant of a target share going his way, but don't be surprised if he easily surpasses 100 total targets this season, racking up 8 or more touchdowns in the process.
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