Three weeks from today everything shifts to the evaluation of this year's draft and what grades each team should receive. While it is too early to accurately grade any draft the day after its completion, it has always been done that way and, to the benefit of no one, will be done that way again.
In the meantime, we'll continue to evaluate the Individual Defensive Player (IDP) ramifications of free agency 2013 as it unfolds, and this week take a gander at the NFC North. Once a division dominated by intimidating defenses, the former "Black and Blue Division" potentially boasts three of the more proficient passing attacks heading into 2013.
While Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford and Jay Cutler figure to air it out plenty next season, the division has had more than its share of intriguing defensive free agency action.
It's interesting to note that while Detroit and Chicago have been restocking and retooling thus far in free agency, the two teams that made the playoffs in 2012, Minnesota and Green Bay, have been very quiet.
DETROIT: The Lions made the most of their scheduled visits as they landed former Houston free safety Glover Quin and Seattle defensive lineman Jason Jones. Both players will have an immediate chance to contribute as they fill positions of need on the Detroit defense.
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz is familiar with Jones from their time together in Tennessee, and look for Detroit to utilize the 6-foot-5, 276-pound lineman at both end and tackle. He has 19 career sacks and has shown the ability to bring pressure from both the edge as well as from the interior when healthy. It's the staying healthy part of the equation that has held Jones back from reaching the potential he flashed early in his career.
Detroit must hope that the reunion with Schwartz will rejuvenate Jones and he will help to pick up some of the sacks and tackles that they lost with the departure of Kyle Vanden Bosch, Cliff Avril and Sammie Hill. For fantasy purposes, Jones is an interesting name to keep in mind as a player that can put up surprisingly good numbers providing he stays healthy. Jones is not worth drafting in IDP leagues but does warrant keeping an eye on in leagues that require the defensive tackle position as a waiver wire option.
Quin will step right in as the starting strong safety in Detroit alongside the returning Louis Delmas, who is slated to play free safety as of now. Wherever Quin ends up in the Lions secondary, fantasy owners can count on him to...