Dude...
A year ago this division looked like a dumpster fire before the season with no one really
knowing who would come out on top especially after the Titans had a very disappointing
offseason trading away AJ Brown. This year brings in a wave of young and generally new talent with new QBs and the acquisition of Deandre Hopkins. While the Jaguars are continuously getting better and the Texans are looking forward to their player development there are a lot of questions with the other two teams for different reasons. The Titans may be looking at a daunting offseason if they have another underwhelming season and the Colts might be on their way to another high draft pick for the second year in a row with a very questionable plan for Jim Irsay and company. The top of the division is expected to be a good foot race having veterans and young talent like Trevor Lawrence looking for another successful season while the bottom half is counting on seeing bright flashes from their young players.
Jacksonville Jaguars:
The Jaguars had a season in 2022 where it went from really bad to really good and it seems like it’s only going up for them going into this season. I’d like to see more consistency from Trevor Lawrence this season but he had a good few games including his wild four touchdowns and four interceptions game he had in the Wild Card game vs the Chargers. The main reason I am huge on the Jaguars is how great of a coach they got in Doug Pederson who completely flipped the script on a team 2-6 record with another high pick looming until they caught fire and won the division, not to mention being a couple of wins away from the superbowl. The offensive line is a big concern with the absence of Jawaan Taylor signing with the Chiefs and Cam Robinson starting off their first four games suspended, so their first-round pick Anton Harrison will be in the spotlight to be a crucial piece of that offensive line. This Jaguars team has playoff experience now gaining maturity, and with Calvin Ridley returning from his suspension this could be an explosive team to watch and hoping to have their young players on both sides of the ball grow into veterans.
Tennessee Titans
Even as much of a fan as I’ve been of this Titans offseason, there is a lot of improvement that needs to be seen on the field in two areas along with needing the majority of their players to stay healthy for the first time in three years. The biggest issue on this team is by far the offensive line unit which made their biggest improvement with their first-round draft pick Peter Skoronski as he was excellent in pass block according to his tape, but unfortunately with the loss of Nicholas Petit-Frere it doesn’t look any better as Chris Hubbard has struggled in the preseason. The second piece needing to improve is Ryan Tannehill who (I will not talk about his postseason play BUT) was solid in previous regular seasons before 2022 and needs to gain his sense of football IQ back instead of forcing plays as he did last season. The best parts about the Titans meanwhile should be really good as the defense is getting a huge piece back in pass rusher Harold Landry along with a pair of nice additions in linebacker Arden Key and cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting. The biggest acquisition for this team by far and saved them from not being mentioned for playoff talk at all is star receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins will be the best receiver on the team and a leader to the rest of the young receiving core which should put up some nice numbers alongside ole’ reliable Derrick Henry.
Houston Texans
The good is pretty good compared to how it looked last year in the AFC South, but the bad is
ugly on paper and potentially really bad if their changes don’t pan out. I think the Houston
Texans not only had one of the best drafts in the league this year but also screwed their rivals in the Titans' plans by taking their new face of the franchise in CJ Stroud. Stroud is by far the most proven QB who was picked from the 2023 draft in the AFC South yet his first year comes with a very young and inexperienced receiving core and if it wasn’t for Laremy Tunsil signing a nice three-year extension would’ve had a questionable offensive line unit as well. Meanwhile, the defense is full of young hard-hitting talent from the former rookies in Jalen Pitre and Derek Stingley Jr., along with their 2023 3rd overall pick in Will Anderson who gives plenty of weapons for new head coach DeMeco Ryans. Ryans did an excellent job as the 49ers defensive coordinator and, although I don’t think Lovie Smith could’ve done any better with the roster they had, he should flip the whole atmosphere of his former team from his playing days into a team that wants to win. Unfortunately, that winning probably won’t come this season and this season should be more focused on seeing growth than having playoff hopes.
Indianapolis Colts
This team is very confusing and possibly could be in the worst situation in the NFL if many
projects don’t work out centered around their new QB Anthony Richardson. Running back
Jonathan Taylor has asked to be traded from the team after a lackluster 2022 from what he did with a better offensive line, and offense in general, in 2021. Taylor wanted to sign an extension but Irsay has been very vocal about how running backs are not underpaid which very ironically was the worst thing he could say to try and keep the best player on his offense. The Colts have made a lot of changes in the 2023 offseason which is a good start for trying to rejuvenate the once-storied franchise as Anthony Richardson is very raw at this point in time, but with his size, speed, and flashes of his arm talent in college his ceiling could be the highest from all drafted QBs in 2023. With a new head coach in Shane Steichen formerly working with Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense, Richardson will either fit right into the system he worked with there or make for an awful situation to start the rookie quarterback’s career. Colts fans are hoping 2022 was a season that started a change for the better but after Taylor’s trade request and a lot of uncertainty throughout the roster, it could be the end of times for our favorite psychopath in Jim Irsay and maybe even a critical start to their new young QB’s development.
Final Thoughts and Prediction:
This division will look similar in how it ended last year outside of the Texans looking to have
better days ahead than they did in 2022 and unfortunately the opposite for the Colts. Jaguars and Titans should only get better especially if the team in Nashville is able to stay healthy and shut down teams defensively like they did two years ago. I believe that the Titans will do a lot better than many expect them to do if the starters stay on the field and not mostly on the IR for once and the offense should have slight improvement with way better skill position players than they did in 2022. With that being said the Jaguars get Calvin Ridley to their receiving core which already looked better than most last season and can possibly get another playoff win if they reach again. In a very close race probably coming down to the final week of the regular season I believe Jacksonville will come out on top and Houston and Titans will finish in places they can be contempt with, unfortunately for the Colts they may be setting up their face of the franchise in AR for failure if the front office doesn’t figure things out fast.
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