The AFC South is possibly the worst division in football. The Tennessee Titans still have so many flaws after the draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars are the worst team in the league, and the Texans just had the first pick in the draft.
The Indianapolis Colts are a lock to run away with this division, but there’s still some players worth talking about on the other teams. Throughout the season, each team in the AFC South will need to fall back on one position, they’re all flawed in some way. At least for these teams, they each have one position that can be their cornerstone in building for their future, even for the Colts.
Houston Texans – Linebacker
Although J.J. Watt is one of the best pass rushers in the league at defensive end, the real depth for Houston is at linebacker now. The biggest name, obviously, is the first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney, who has the potential to be just as good as Watt, if not better.
Houston’s other outside linebacker, Whitney Mercilus was second on the team last season in sacks, recording seven behind Watt’s 10.5.
In the Texans 3-4 defense, Brian Cushing and Brooks Reed occupy the inside two positions. Cushing forced a fumble last season and even scored a touchdown while recovering one, in addition to having seven tackles for a loss. Reed was eighth on the team in tackles, and had four tackles for a loss.
Judging by Houston’s draft, they’re going with a defense-first approach, which will work out just fine with their group of linebackers coupled with Watt along the line.
Indianapolis Colts – Running Back
On the surface, saying that running back is deep for the Colts seems off because of how bad of a running team they were last season, and they lost Donald Brown to free agency. But now that their backs are healthy, Indy’s rushing game will get back on track this season.
Trent Richardson is primed for a bounce-back year after the Colts traded away their first-round draft pick for him, and they’re getting Vick Ballard and Ahmad Bradshaw back from injury.
Richardson scored 12 total touchdowns in his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns, but averaged less than three yards per carry in 14 games for the Colts. Still, he is a talented back and will get the majority of the carries.
Ballard is only 23, and missed basically all of last season with a torn ACL. Now that he’s healthy, the Colts will likely use him as a change-of-pace bruising back. He ran for 814 yards in his rookie campaign and scored three total touchdowns. Ballard isn’t as fast as Richardson but will definitely be used around the goal line.
Bradshaw is much more of a risk for further injury — he has only played in 16 games once in his seven-year career — but he has had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons with the New York Giants, and in the three games that he did appear in last season for the Colts, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry on his 41 touches.
If all three of those backs stay healthy for the majority of the season, the Colts will be much better off on offense and should one of them go down, they should be confident in the other two being able to carry the load.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Defensive End
Even after free agency and the draft, the Jaguars still have a long way to go before they get out of the basement of the league. But they certainly don’t have to worry about getting pass rusher on the line.
Jacksonville’s biggest acquisition in the offseason was singing former Seahawks Chris Clemons, who has 58 career sacks in 10 seasons. Coming from Seattle, Clemons knows how to produce on a successful defense, and although he wasn’t as productive in 2013, he still had three straight years of double-digit sacks from 2010 to 2012.
The Jaguars already have Tyson Alualu on the left side along with Clemons. Alualu was seventh on the team in tackles last season, and had four tackles for a loss.
On the other side of the line, they have veteran Jason Babin, who has 62.5 career sacks, most recently recording 7.5. Babin also forced three fumbles last season and had seven tackles for a loss.
Finally, they have another former Seahawk, Red Bryant behind Babin on the right side. Although he doesn’t have great numbers, he does have six years of experience under his belt in the league and did pick up 1.5 sacks last season.
With Paul Posluszny at linebacker, the Jaguars actually have a solid run defense, starting up front.
Tennessee Titans – Offensive Tackle
The strangest thing about Tennessee’s offseason was that they used their first-round draft pick to take a player they didn’t have a need for, which is how we end up with offensive tackle being its strongest position.
Despite already having veteran Michael Roos and bringing in free agent Michael Oher, the Titans drafted right tackle Taylor Lewan out of Michigan. Lewan has a future in the league and has great size for a tackle, but he likely won’t start after the Titans gave Oher a four-year, $20 million deal.
Although Oher struggled last season with the Ravens, but he has never missed a game in his five-year career and he’s started every game since he was drafted out of Mississippi.
Then, at left tackle, Roos isn’t necessarily the best tackle, but he is incredibly reliable, only missing one game in his nine-year career. Roos made the Pro Bowl in 2008, and just signed an extension with Tennessee.
Quarterback Jake Locker has struggled to stay healthy, but with Roos, Oher and Lewan available to protect him on either end of the line he should feel comfortable in the pocket.