The NFC North: 2009 Fantasy Football Breakout Players

Every year there are multiple players at each position that have breakout seasons and put their name on the fantasy football map.

In 2008 we saw players like Matt Cassel, Aaron Rodgers, Michael Turner, Derrick Ward, Antonio Bryant, and Dwayne Bowe put together what is considered a breakout season and because of this they will be highly targeted in 2009 fantasy drafts.

With it never being too early to start planning for your fantasy football draft, the Bruno Boys offer you their opinion on what players will flourish in 2009 and have a breakout season.

In our first installment of 2009 Fantasy Football Breakout Players we bring to you the NFC North division.

Chicago Bears

With the acquisition of Jay Cutler, the Bears have a star-caliber quarterback finally at their helm. That can only benefit the offense as a whole but the main player that should benefit is Matt Forte.

Coming off an outstanding rookie campaign, Forte should excel as defenses will need to be a bit more honest this year, otherwise they risk the possibility of having Cutler shred them in the passing game.

Of course, to have this come about as it should, the Bears will need a few of their younger receivers, namely TE Greg Olsen and WR Devin Hester, to step up.  But with the balance that Cutler should bring to the Bears this should not be much of a problem.

Of course Cutler won't be able to catch the ball for Hester so there definitely remains some question marks. All-in-all though, the Bears should be able to provide the fantasy football world at least some solid bench options for the 2009 season. 

Also Consider: WR Rashied Davis, WR Earl Bennett, and TE Desmond Clark

Detroit Lions

The Lions will be impacted big-time depending on which way they choose to go in the draft as they will have the option to go any direction they want considering that they hold the No. 1 overall pick.

It is my belief that if they cannot trade out of the top draft position; they will draft quarterback Matthew Stafford.

But I am not here to predict what will happen during the draft, I am here to predict what Lions players should improve from last year.

The top player last year for the Lions was WR Calvin Johnson, and he should continue his decent into the top-tier of the NFL wide receivers, especially considering that he will have a much more well-prepared quarterback in Daunte Culpepper.

Kevin Smith should have a better offensive line to run behind if Lions management has anything to do with it. The whole regime is preaching pound the rock and it sounds like the Lions brass finally will do something to help that out.

If this picture is painted out, then Smith should be able to lead the Lions to a solid running game that they have lacked ever since James Stewart was shown the door.

Also Consider: WR Bryant Johnson and QB Daunte Culpepper (If healthy, he has better skills than Jon Kitna)

Green Bay Packers

In his first year as the Packers' field general, Aaron Rodgers played fairly well, eclipsing 4,000 passing yards while throwing for 28 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions.

No disrespect to Brett Favre, but that ratio is something of a positive change for the Packers. Expect Rodgers to improve even more as his second full season throwing to Greg Jennings and Donald Driver can only help. 

Talking about that pair of receivers, they both should continue to plug away and remain productive fantasy receivers as well. As long as they can get some what of a productive rushing combination out of their backfield the Packers' offense as a whole should be able to produce some solid fantasy contributors for the 2009 season.

Also Consider: RB Ryan Grant and RB Brandon Jackson

Minnesota Vikings

There are not many players, if any, that are going to be more sought after on draft day than the Vikings' star running back Adrian Peterson. The offense will flow through him once again, especially considering that the question marks at quarterback have not answered themselves this offseason.

That is where the pretty ends and the ugly begins.

The Vikings really do not have another formidable fantasy option on their squad other than, perhaps, Chester Taylor, and that is only if Peterson gets hurt.

Bernard Berrian is a sufficient WR3, but if you are looking for either 1,000 receiving yards or 10 TD's from the WR slot, he will leave you unfulfilled. What saves him though is that his wide receiver supporting cast is not the greatest group of talent.

If you are a fan of the Vikings and can't grab Peterson or Berrian, the pickings really do become very thin. Don't expect many surprises to come from this team. 

Also Consider: TE Visanthe Shiancoe and WR Sidney Rice (starting to look like his bright star is gaining quite a bit of tarnish)

For more fantasy football insight and advice, go to Bruno Boys Fantasy Football.