Once known as the "black and blue" division, the NFC North resembled only the latter of those bruised appellations in 2002, a discomforting year in which the Green Bay Packers' victory total was only one shy of the aggregate wins posted by their three arch rivals.

Stuck in reverse most of the season, the Chicago Bears suffered one of the most perilous slippages in league history, going from 13 victories in 2001 to just four in 2002. Detroit followed up the two wins it registered under rookie coach Marty Mornhinweg in 2001 with three in '02 and, when Steve Mariucci became available the Lions made a well-advised coaching switch. Despite a late-season surge, Minnesota won just six games, finishing off one of the most horrendous two-year stretches in franchise history.

So what happened to cause a once-proud division that Chris Berman long ago dubbed "The Norris" to be reduced to something more resembling "The Porous?" How could it be that none of the four teams ranked higher than 12th in total defense and that three of the franchises rated in the lowest statistical quadrant? For lack of a better explanation, blame it in large part on the linebackers.

Middle of the action

Count the Green Bay Packers among the growing list of NFL teams that have taken to the new trend of positioning a non-traditional middle linebacker in the heart of the action. While he played the final three seasons at Oregon State as a strong-side linebacker, after switching there from strong safety, first-round draft choice Nick Barnett is now projected as the Packers' man in the middle. Should he win the job, Barnett would become the fifth former outside linebacker to switch to the middle this offseason alone, continuing an NFL migration that began only a few years ago when players like Brian Urlacher of Chicago and Keith Brooking of Atlanta moved inside. The 29th player selected overall this year, Barnett will face competition in training camp from a pair of young veterans, Torrance Marshall and Paris Lenon. But the rookie is still a very solid bet to win the starting job and, while he missed some time because he was not permitted to join workouts until his school's graduation exercises by league rule, Barnett has clearly impressed the Green Bay staff. Packers brass made it clear on draft day, just moments after plucking Barnett off the board, that he was chosen with the design on playing him in the middle. That projection has not been altered. "I see him being an every-down player," said head coach Mike Sherman. "I would not have taken a linebacker in the first round who couldn't be on the field in the 'nickel' and 'dime' defenses. This guy can do that." In addition to his physical prowess, Barnett seems to have the mental acumen required for making the check-offs and defensive calls that are normally associated with playing middle linebacker. He had a 3.8 grade-point average in high school and also took a double major in college. So in addition to being able to chase the ball from sideline to sideline, the Packers seem convinced Barnett will get his peers aligned in the right place. "He's a demonstrative guy," said linebackers coach Mark Duffner. "He's not afraid to take command of whatever drill is going on. I like the youth and the leadership that he will bring to us." --Len Pasquarelli

Or, more accurately, on the dearth of standout linebacker play.

It seems that when the Tampa Bay Bucs were moved to the NFC South, in the first year of the league's wholesale realignment, they took most of the premier linebacker play with them. Certainly the standard of excellence appeared dramatically reduced once Derrick Brooks, Shelton Quarles and even Alshermond Singleton departed the division.

The end result: A quartet of rugged franchises that produced the likes of Ray Nitschke, Joe Schmidt, Scott Studwell and Mike Singletary during the halcyon years, bore precious little resemblance to that linebacker lineage.

Hey, forget Butkus, folks, because the NFC North was mostly bobkes when it came to linebacker play in 2002.

Take away the Bears tandem of Brian Urlacher and Rosevelt Colvin -- and New England did, indeed, take Colvin this spring, pirating away the prized sack man in free agency and further reducing the inventory of top-shelf linebackers in the NFC North -- and there was not much there in terms of excellence.

"People can argue that the (linebacker) position isn't as big a priority anymore," said one defensive assistant from an NFC North team, "and that you can get by with lesser players there now. Maybe the game has evolved a little away from the position. But you still need good linebackers and this division sure as heck didn't have many of them in 2002."

Indeed, the linebacker spot was a revolving door for the Lions last year and it didn't help that former first-round choice Chris Claiborne was 25 pounds overweight. In Green Bay, where the Packers outbid the Philadelphia Eagles for the services of Hardy Nickerson, the longtime veteran slipped noticeably in what turned out to be his final season. Nate Wayne became a liability at the weak-side spot.

Greg Biekert played well as a run-stuffer in Minnesota, as anticipated, but wasn't flanked by playmakers and still didn't play the pass very well. The Bears lost Warrick Holdman to injury for a dozen games, disrupting the division's top linebacker unit.

So it should come as no surprise that, when the defensive coordinators of the NFC North teams began plotting offseason upgrades, the linebacker position came under pretty heavy scrutiny. When the 2003 season commences, there figures to be at least seven new starters at the dozen linebacker spots in the division, with Chicago the lone team that projects to having fewer than two alterations.

Among them, the division franchises added 15 new linebackers this offseason, either in free agency or through the draft. In typical copy-cat fashion, the paradigm has evolved to that used by their former rival in the dismantled NFC Central, the Bucs, who rely on quickness far more than size.

If there is one common denominator at linebacker among the four clubs, beyond that of change in general, it is an emphasis on speed. The division that once aimed to bludgeon opponents has cast aside the blunt-object mindset and in its place has emerged the reality of a modern-day NFL in which speed kills on the defensive side of the ball as well.

"We just want more athletic players (at linebacker) now," said Green Bay coordinator Ed Donatell, explaining in part the Packers' decision to choose Nick Barnett with their first pick in the 2003 draft. "We wanted (linebackers) who could run to the football."

Green Bay could have a total overhaul at linebacker in 2003, with Barnett projected as the starter in the middle, despite having played principally on the outside at Oregon State. Former strong-side starter Na'il Diggs likely will move to the weak side and his old spot could be manned by former Carolina part-time starter Hannibal Navies, signed this spring as a free agent.

The Lions, who either drafted or signed as free agents five new linebackers, also figure to enact a major facelift. Detroit signed veterans Earl Holmes and Wali Rainer and invested a second-round choice in Boss Bailey (Georgia) and a fifth-rounder in James Davis (West Virginia, meaning that three-year veteran Barrett Green is the only holdover with a viable chance to retain his starting spot.

Claiborne, who worked diligently to drop the tonnage he had accumulated last year with the Lions, has moved to the Vikings and performed well in spring mini-camps. Vikings officials feel that former Maryland standout E.J. Henderson, a second-round choice two months ago, could start as a rookie. The Bears will move second-year pro Bryan Knight into the starting vacancy created by Colvin's free agency exit.

It is, to be sure, a lot of remaking in the division. It is also, various team officials from the NFC North have acknowledged, a makeover undertaken out of necessity.

"When we came in (as a new staff), we made linebacker a priority, and we've spent much of the offseason addressing it," said Mariucci. "It just had to be done."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.