Ranking the best NFC North running back duos

Going into the 2023 NFL season, the Chicago Bears are hoping to repeat their dominance on the ground that we saw them enjoy last year.

As the top rushing team in all of football during the 2022 campaign, the Bears used a trio of rushers to earn that title. Between Khalil Herbert, David Montgomery and Justin Fields, Chicago ran all over the league.

Now looking at a much different back field in 2023, and mostly-different back fields across the division this year, how do the Bears stack up against the rest of the NFC North?

Let's look at the top running back duos across the division and see just where the Bears rank. Warning: you might not love the order.

4. Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings check in last, here, because of one main reason: Dalvin Cook, or the lack thereof. Now that Cook is no longer a Viking, it's easy to call the Minnesota back field the worst in the division. The Vikings will be led by Alexander Mattison, now. The former third-round pick out of Boise State has done a nice job stepping in for Cook whenever he had been injured, and now he gets an opportunity to shine in the lead role.

Behind Cook is a myriad of guys, and we're not quite sure which one will emerge as the strongest compliment to Mattison. As it stands, currently, the Vikings have Ty Chandler, a fifth-round pick out of North Carolina last year. There's also 2021 fourth-round pick Kene Nwangwu and this year's seventh-round pick DeWayne McBride.

Whomever ends up emerging next to Mattison, the Vikings will hopefully have a guy who can pass block and catch the football, at the very least. But, for now, we don't quite know who that is.