As the football preseason is upon us, we will be doing season previews for each division, similar to our draft preview. Today, we look at the AFC South.
The Houston Texans made the playoffs last year for largely the same reason my Washington Redskins made the playoffs. They were a good team in a horrendous division in which the best team in the division fell apart due to injury towards their quarterback. I mean, no team being lead by TJ Yates, Ryan Mallett or Brian Hoyer should be in the playoffs, and throughout the course of the season, all three of those players started for the Texans. To combat this, the Texans retooled their offense, by signing Lamar Miller and Brock Osweiler to replace Arian Foster, and whichever shitty quarterback you want to pick. Miller is a consistent back, who had his best season last year with Miami. Osweiler, on the other hand, was a backup to Peyton Manning. Osweiler filled in for the injured Manning, and eventually replaced the Tennessee Volunteer as starting quarterback, but could not hold the position, and Manning went on to win his second Super Bowl. Now Osweiler is being treated like a bonafide stud, and has the keys to the kingdom in Houston. He has someone to catch the ball, in the form of Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins, as well as two rookies in Will Fuller and Braxton Miller providing more and more weapons for Osweiler. Rookie Nick Martin, could be the best center in the 2016 draft, and will start for Houston. Defensively, the Texans are a dominant team. Regardless of J.J Watt missing most of the preseason due to surgery, he’s still the best defensive end in football, and is the type of player that offenses have to game plan around. Next to him is a monster of a man, with Vince Wilfork filling the nose tackle position after years in New England. The linebackers are lead by Brian Cushing, former Pro Bowler, while Jadeveon Clowney gets his chance next to Cushing. Clowney had an underwhelming season last year after missing his rookie campaign
The Indianapolis Colts, were assumed to be the best team in the AFC South last year, until Andrew Luck got hurt. Luck, a former #1 overall pick, hid a lot of the Colts’ deficiencies. This year, Luck is back, and hopes to knock the Texans off of their totem pole. Behind Luck will be Frank Gore, who spent years in San Fran before coming to Indiana last year, where he had close to 1000 yards rushing. T.Y. Hilton is looking to have a breakout season, after years of toying with greatness, and Dwayne Allen hopes to take the starting tight end position after signing a big contract extension this past off season. On the line, Ryan Kelly will start at Center. Kelly is a rookie, who was drafted in the first round, and hopefully can protect Andrew Luck better than last year. Anthony Castonzo, will defend Luck’s blind side, and prove that he is one of the best left tackles in football. The Colts need their offense to dominate, largely due to their lack of defense. Their best pass rusher is Robert Mathis, who isn’t a bad linebacker, but he’s 35. Besides Mathis, they have D’Qwell Jackson and Trent Cole as linebackers. These aren’t bad players, in fact their careers have been fairly good, but they both are over 30, and linebackers don’t always last deep into there 30’s. In the secondary, Vontae Davis is a Pro Bowler and veteran presence that still has some miles left on his legs. Across from him, Patrick Robinson lines up. Robinson has been a bit of an underachiever during his time in the league. Drafted by the Saints in the first round, he has floated around between New Orleans, San Diego and now Indianapolis. He’s not bad, but there are better cornerbacks in the league. Lastly, we have Pro Bowler Mike Adams at safety. Adams has had a journeyman career, playing for 4 separate teams during his 12-year career. Adams has been a Pro Bowler the past two seasons, but at 35, it’s tough to assume his body with continue perform at such a high level. He could prove me wrong though.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are many peoples sleeper pick to win the division here. It makes sense. They have a young QB in Blake Bortles, who continues to get better each year. He has two great wide receivers in Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns, who both had 1000 yard seasons last year. Their tight end, Julius Thomas, signed a big contract last year, after spending years in Denver catching balls from Peyton Manning. They also signed Chris Ivory this offseason, giving them a clear #1 running back. In fact, Ivory was in the top 5 for the League in rushing yards last year, and hopes to continue that production going into 2016. On the offensive line, former number one overall pick, Luke Joeckel, hopes to protect Bortles’ blindside, while AJ Cann hopes to hold down the center position. Now let’s flip to the other side of the ball, where the Jaguars made a splash this past offseason in the draft. They drafted two players high in potential, by drafting Jalen Ramsey in the first round and Myles Jack in the second. Ramsey will start the season at cornerback, and was thought to be the best player in the draft by many experts. Jack, on the other hand, has all the physical talent in the world, but a knee injury left him sidelined for much of his senior year. He will start the season as the backup middle linebacker, behind veteran Paul Posluszny. Posluszny has quietly developed into one of the better linebackers in the NFL, but has been largely ignored, likely due to him playing on unachieving teams (I.E. Bills, Jaguars). If the team does well this year, watch for Posluszny to be a large reason for this jump. The pass rush will be lead by last years first round pick, Dante Fowler Jr., who will help abuse opposing QB’s alongside Defensive Tackle Malik Jackson, the team’s big offseason acquisition.
Lastly, we will focus on the worst team in the league last year, the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee had the first pick in the draft until they traded with the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams drafted Jared Goff, while Tennessee got seven picks for trading back. That includes next year’s first round and third round selection from LA. Why would they agree to this trade? Due to the fact that the Titans drafted there franchise QB last year, in the form of Marcus Mariota. Mariota was drafted number two overall last year, and the Tennessee front office believes he is their quarterback and savior. Personally, I’m not sure, but we will have to wait and see. Behind Mariota, will be newly acquired running back DeMarco Murray, who after leading the league in rushing for Dallas in 2014, had an off year in Philadelphia in Chip Kelly’s system, and was eventually traded to Tennessee. Murray could provide a massive help to Mariota, taking some pressure off of the passing game. As for who Mariota will throw to, Andre Johnson, Kendall Wright, rookie Tajae Sharpe, and Rishard Matthews will all fight for the number one spot, with Sharpe and Matthews leading the race currently. Tackles Taylor Lewan and rookie Jack Conklin hope to protect Mariota. Conklin was the second tackle drafted this year, and Lewan was a first rounder in 2014. Defensively, Jurrell Casey was a Pro Bowler last year, and hopes to provide a dominant pass rush again this year. Behind Casey, Brian Orakpo and Wesley Woodyard are two very good linebackers. Orakpo spent the beginning of his career in Washington where he was a three time Pro Bowler. Woodyard spent time in Denver after being signed as an undrafted free agent. Both will be leaders of this team. In the secondary, the Titans are ok, with Jason McCourty holding down one corner spot while Rashad Johnson and Da’Norris Searcy starting at both of the safety positions. For the Titans hopeful, I can only hope that they are better than average.
Asinine Pick’s That Will Probably be Wrong:
AFC South Champs: Jacksonville Jaguars:
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 11-5
- Indianapolis Colts: 8-8
- Houston Texans: 7-9
- Tennessee Titans: 4-12
