AFC South Preview.

AFC South 

Jacksonville Jaguars

Some Heavy Florida Waves Of Momentum and Good Vibes Will Usher The Jags Into A New Season. Jags Head Coach Doug Pederson To Cut His Son Off The Roster Last Week Because Successful Football Leaves No Room for Nepotism. 

The Jags Made A Name For Themselves In The AFC Last Year First By Winning The South, Then Knocking Off The Chargers In The Wild Card Round Before The Chiefs All The Champs Could Handle And Falling One Chad Henne(a Famer Jag) Drive From Making The Conference Finals For The First Time Since 2017. Sensing The Moment And Still Reeling From The Fallout of Their Last Contender, The Jags Took To The Season To Seize Control Of Their Season Momentum. The Jags Added A Name, Zor Two, To The Roster But Need Continued Development From Home Grown Players. After One Season Under Head Coach Doug Pederson, The Jags Turned A" Top Ten Pick" Producing Machine To AFC Watchlist. The Jags Offense Starts With quarterback And Former Number One pick Trevor Lawrence. I Think His Time Spent At A School Like Clemson, With such A Strong Pedigree, Hurt Lawrence's Adjustment To The League. You Can't Simulate The Pro Game Without playing Under The Scope Of Constant High-Level Play And Pressure. The Move To The League Could Feel Like A Culture Shock. His First Year with Urban Meyer May Have left him shell-shocked. Like Playing Super Mario Lawrence Has To Make The Next Leap. Lawrence Made Strides As A Quarterback If Only For Him Advancing Into A More "Competent Situation. The Jags Improved Everything Around Him, Just Like Iron Stepping Into His New Nanotechnology Suit. Everything Moved Faster, The Field Processes For The Quarterback Downloaded With Rhythm, And Lawrence's Protection Helped Him Feel At Home. Doug Pederson's Offense Fit Like A Glove, Enhancing All Of Lawrence's Technical and Athletic Ability. No Quarterback Played Better With Blitz On Than Lawrence, Who Finished 2nd in EPA When Blitz and Number In Completions Percentage. All Around, Lawrence Could Depend More On His Playmakers. He Posted Career Numbers And Earned His First Playoff Win In His second Season. Suddenly, The Timid Rookie Lawrence Could Roll Out of The Pocket, Escape Pressure, and Hit His Target In astride. (Not Suddenly Because He put Those Talents On Display At Clemson, But In The Pros, His Moves Pop More Like Playing Madden With A More Powerful Processor) Everything started with The Jags Remodeled Receiving Group. 

 The Jags Caught A Lot Of Censure Last Year For Signing Christian Kirk To 4 Year $72 Million Contract. "That's a lot of money for a player who has never had a 1,000-yard season…" Someone Said The Former Cardinal Receiver Just Balled Out And Left a Deafening Loud Answer To The Question: Can Kirk Work In A Number One Receiver Format? Yes. He's Not A Number One, But He's The Best Thing. Kirk possessed fantastic Deep Ball Play Before He Trasitioned To The Jags, a 4.47-second 40-yard dash, But Doug Pederson Used Kirk's Speed On All Levels Of The Field. He Ran Routes Out Of The Backfield, Caught from The Slot, And Into The Boundary, Where He Didnt Work Much In Years Prior.

Kirk Caught A Career Eight Touchdowns, 1109 Receiving Yards on 123 Targets With 13.2 Yards Per Reception, and 387 Yard After Catch, All Career Highs. His Slot Fade Was Indefensible, And On A Deal Criticism As An Overpay, the Jags Also Brought Zay Jones As A Big Bodied Received To Play Next To Marvin Jones On The Outside. Both Jones's Posses Similar Body Types That Expand The Target/Catch From Lawrence To Them. Zay Jones Enjoyed a Career As Well, with 823 Yards Receiving Five Touchdowns, 70.1% Catch Percentage, 82 Receptions And 1.44 Yards Per Reception. Kirk Out Performed The Market. Either Through Shared Speed, Range, Or Savvy Trevor Lawrence, The Upgraded Receivers Gave Trevor Lawrence A lot More Range and Room To Explore And Develop. Continuing to revamp The Offense, The Jags Brought In Evan Engram, The Former Giants First Round Pick At Tight End. Unsurprisingly, He Enjoyed A Career Year. Engram Struggled with Loads Of Injuries In New York And Missed Time. Still, In Jacksonville, He Played A Full Season, Pulled 73 Catches, 766 Receiving Yards, 75.3 Catch Percentage, He Played The Second Most Snaps Out Wide Of Any Tight End Second Only To Travis Kelce. The Jags Paid Guys The Rest Of The League Looked Over And Came Away With A Strong Pass Catching Gambit The League Has To Acknowledge. They Lost Marvin Jones This offseason, But No Biggie. They Picked Up Former Falcons All-Pro Calvin Ridley Fresh Off Of A Season Suspension For Gambling. Ridley's A True Elite Receiver. His Last Full Season Saw Him Post 1374 Receiving Yards And 90 Receptions On 15.3 Yards Per Reception. You're Adding Ridley's Production To the Tenth Best Offense By Points Scored In The League Last Year. The Jags' Offense Picked A bad Year to Deploy a Great Rushing Game Because Everyone In The League Could Run The Ball Effectively This Season.

Nevertheless, The Jags Let Travis Ettienne Takeover, and The Explosive Rang Off Like A WWE Entrance. The Jags Caught Rebuke Again for Drafting A Running Back In The First Round Two Years Ago. Ettienne Missed His Rookie Year But Took Over Full Time, Basically Week Five, And Became A Top Ten Productive Back. The Clemson Product Finished Ninth In Rushing Yards(1120), Third In Yards Per Carry(5.1), Fifth In Missed Tackles Forced And Added 316 Yards In The Receiving Game. Ettienne's Performance Looks More Admirable When You Consider How Weak The Jags' Offensive Line Played. The unit's Anchor By Left TackleCam Robinson, Whose Out Multiple Games Due To Suspension, and His Absence Only Sets Off More Alarms Because TheJags Will Lean In On Rookie Tackle Anton Harrison, A Highly Touted Prospect. Still, He Hasn't Proven His Status Yet. The Offensive Line Could Derail This Entire Unit Or Prove Just Another Hurdle For Lawrence and Etienne To Overcome.  

The Jags Defense Has A Lot of Upside But No Definitive Position In The Game. The Jags' Defensive Line Can Have Havoc Wreakors On Both Sides Of The Ball If Last Year's Number One Pick, Travon Walker Lives Up To The Hype. Walker Had Some Adjusting To Do Once He Entered The League, Starting With the Jags TAking His HAnds Out Of The Ground and making Him Rush The Passer From A Crouch Position. From He, Walker Generated 3.5 /4 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, 18 hurries, and an 8.9% pressure rate (per Next Gen Stats), 36 Pressures Total. The difference between Standing Up And Rushing from Stand Up, technique, Pass Rush Moves, And Counter Moves Trump's Raw Physicality, Power, And Explosion—Two Of Travon's Best Traits. Why would The Jags Take Walker Out Of His Natural Element? Because His Fluid Athleticism Allows Him to Fall Back In Coverage In The Hook And Flats In Special Coverage Sets. He Snags An Interception Out Of The Air, To The Surprise Of Everyone Because No One Saw He Fall Out Of Phase On The Pass Rush. He's Still A Raw Football Player, Much Less a Pass Rusher, But The Upside remains Undeniable. The True Pass Rusher Of This Jags Unit, Edge Rusher Josh Allen. Allen Had A Career High 68 Total Pressures Last Season, And he's Entering A Contract Year. As The Jags' Only Proven Pressure Valve, I Want To See More Than Just 6 Sacks Next Season. The Jags Also Have Second Year Man Devin Lloyd, Who They Can Deploy All Over The Defense In Multiple Formats, Coverage, Pass Rush, And A Sniffer and Run Stuffer. Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun Siwtched Team But Didnt Switch Identity, He Still Lead The League In Total Tackles(184) With The Added Value Of Two Sacks And Two Force Fumbles. The Jags Have Tyson Campbell As The Top Guy In Their Secondary. He Registered Three Interceptions and Generated An 80.0 Passer Rating On Quarterback Targets. The rest Of The Group, Andre Cisco, Rayshawn Jenkins, And Darius Williams, Have A lot To Prove On The Football Field. The Jags Won The Division Last Year And Only Improved In The Off-season. The Offensive Line Worries, But The Talent On Offense Can Overcome The pitfalls In The Middle. Season Predictions, 11-6. 

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts Brass Again Fund Themselves Managing The Merger Of Another Off Season Mark By Frustration, Confusion, Disillusionment and In Some Stakes Embarrassment. If You're A Colts Fan, You Must Live In A Constant State Of Anxiety About Your Team Moves And How That Brass Speak To The Media. The Carson Wentz Saga Turned Into A Fire Storm Where The Colts Owner Jim Irsay Walk Right Into The Light And Brandished The Failure. The Firing Of Head Coach Frank Reich And The Subsequent Hire Of Interim Head Coach Jeff Saturday Inspired Waves Of Scrutiny And, In Some Respects, Insulted Many "Qualified" Applicants Even Though No One Can Define What Qualifies Someone To Be A Head Coach In The NFL Other Than Receiving The Job. The Matt Ryan Deal Flopped, But Who Needs Reminding. The Andrew Luck Departure That Preceded All Of These, Not Missed Steps, But Ignominious Moves, His Presence Looms Large Over The Franchise. This Jonathan Taylor Saga, The Deal No Deal Of The Summer, Adds Another Note To Indy's Job-Like Story Of Misfortune. For Anyone "Unaware," Jonathan Taylor Wants A New Contract, One Of Which The Colts Don't Feel inclined to Serve Him. Taylor's One Of The Teams Best Players But At A Lower Valued Position. Running Backs Have All The Rage This Summer When Pressed about Why The Team Hasn't Paid Taylor, Ballard Responded Tersely;

Ballard: "We won four games last year. We won four games." On The Surface, The Answer Sound Callous And Tone Death, But He's Right. The Response Doesn't Boil Down To The Team Not Wanting To Pay Their Star Player Or Reduce The Price; Ballard's Interest, Irsay's Interest Rest With The Condition Of The "Team" First, The "Organization" First. Why Pay Big Money To A Big Name Player If The Product On The Field Hasn't Changed Yet? Thats Bad Business. The Colts Have Learned From These String Of Loses They've Suffered On The Business Side Of Ball. Matt Ryan Flopped, The Colts Had Hopes For Him Long Term(Which Made No Sense). The Colts Need Results That's All Anybody Seeking A New Contract Should Bring To The Table. The Solution At Quarterback Has Appeared To The Colts In The Fourth Overall Pick, Anthony Richardson. The Colts Prove No Team The exception, You Can't Side Step The Steps To Build A Contender, So They Dipped Into The Draft. The Colts Named Richardson The Starter Almost Out Of The Gate. He Looks Like a Work In Progress During The Preseason. Richardson Played In Two Games Finished 13-of-29 passing for 145 yards and one interception, adding seven carries for 45 yards. He's a Project but zone; You Have To Get Excited For What He Brings To The Table As Athlete With a Live Arm. If I'm A Rookie Quarterback, I Like The Colts' Assortment Of Big Weapons, Except Rookie Josh Downs. The Rest Of Colts Stand at Six Feet Or Better, Starting With Leading Receiver Micheal Pittman Jr. Pittman Enters The Season Poised To Break Out, And I Mean Truly Break Out This Year. Alex Pierce, Last Season, stood opposite Pittman. He's 6'3 To Pittman's 6'4. The Rest Of Roster Feature All Manner Of Tight Ends For New Head Coach Shane Steichen To Throw Around. Kylen Granson, Mo Alie-Cox, Andrew Ogletree, And Jelani Woods Once He Returns From Injury. The Colts Had Nine Tight ends On The Roster At One Point.

Steichen Had His Hands In The Development Of Jalen Hurts And Justin Herbert. So The Prevailing Theory Stands He Can Groom The Best Out Of Anthony Richardson. The Colts Won't Have The Run Game To Support Their Offensive Exploits At Least For The First Four Weeks Of The Season With Jonathan Taylor Sidelined With Injury. Steichen Has A Quarterback With Elite Mobility At His Disposal, So If He Found Unique Ways To Incorporate Richardson's Legs into the Offense. The Colts Offense Line Continues To Get Berated For High Price And Low Production. They Still Possess Quentin Nelson, But Even His Play Has Diminished. The Colts Have One Of The Strongest Defensive Units In Football. The Strength Of That Defense Front, One Of The Best In Football. The LIne's Anchored By Vet DeForest Buckner, A Mammoth And A Menace In The Middle Of The Front Coming Off Of A 74 Tackle 8 Sack Season. Next To Him, Grover Stewart. On The Edge, Kwity Paye, The Powerful Former First Round Pick, Coming Off Of A Six Sack Season. He'll Partner With Samson Ebukam. The Colts Linebackers Will Rank With The Best Once They Have Stud Shaquille Leonard Back To Bobby Okereke(Who Signed With The Giants This Offseason)And Zaire Franklyn. Franklyn And Okereke Finished in the Top Ten In Total Tackles, 4th And 10th, respectively. 

The Colts Built Their Linebacking Group On Speed, and They Surround The Ball Fast. The Colts Will Brandish A Young Group In The Secondary, Heralded By Safety Justin Blackmon And Rodney Thomas. The Colts Posted The 11th Best Defense In The NFL last Season. They'll Have To Lean In On Younger Guys Like Rookie corners JuJu Brents, Darius Rush, and Jaylon Jones On The Outside Under The Guidance Of Slot Dynamo Kenny Moore. In All, The Colts Have A Lot Going On With The Franchise. There are a lot Of Reasons For Excitement and a lot Of Reasons For Concern. From Winning Yo Installing To Conversion Takes Times. The Colts Won Four Games Last Season, and Nothing Changed: 4-13.  

Houston Texans

The CJ Stroud Era Of The Texans Begins, and He Brings With Him A Glare Of Hope Like The One That Shines Through at The End Of The Storm. The Number Two Pick Might Mark The End Of The Destruction, But The Rebuild Must Continue. The Texans Somehow Lucked Out Of The Number One Pick To the Bears, But We knew Who The Point Towards As The Worse Team In Football. The Colt's efforts To Tank Out At The Last Minute Break The Texans' Stride, Their God Given Right To the Number Choice, But In Some Drafts, Stroud's Still That" Number One" Guy Without The Titular Designate. For Me, Young And Stroud Never Felt like A competition Just Two Sides Of The Same Story. If You Wanted The Prospect With Ideal Size You favored Stroud. If You Wanted High-Level Gifts, Young. For the Texans, You Don't Need The Superior Talent You Need The Right Fit.

Stroud Brings Excellent Touch and Spin On The Ball. His preseason Didn't Stand Out; he Just 11/20 passes for 89 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He's Still "Jelling" With His Receiving Core, Of Course, We're Talking Preseason. Nevertheless, He's Shown He Can Read Coverages, Look Off Safeties, Pick Out Landmarks Effortlessly, And Drop Dimes All Within The Frame Work Of The Offense. Strouds Doesn't Possess a Creative, Fluid Football Gene Like Bryce Young, Stroud Did Escape Some Pressure Against The Dolphins, He's A Dropback And Command An Offense Type. He's A Brilliant Quarterback. Even At This Stage In His Game On His Own Can The Rest Of The Texan's Offense Rise To Him. The Protection, The Offensive Line Matters. Aside From Pro Laremi Tunsil, The Best Tackle In The League, The Rest Of the Texans' Offensive Line Has Much To Prove. The Texans Also Boast One Of The "Weakest" Receiving Corps In The League. In Their Case, Last Place Doesn't Sound So Bad Considering How Much Talent Most Of The League's Best Team Have At That Position. A Group Made Up Of Noah Brown, Nico Collins, Robert Woods Rookie Tank Dell, And John Metchie Coming Off Of A Red Shirt Year After Recovering From Leukemia. The Young Guys Of This Group Of High Ceiling But Production On The Field Trumps Traits And Skillsets. At Tight End, Former Cowboy Dalton Shultz Provides Stroud With A Quarterback Greatest Gift, A Sure Fire Safety Net On The Money Downs. Defensively, The Texans Also Have An Undertaking For the New Head, Demeco Ryans, Who Lead One Of The Best Defenses In The League In San Fransisco. They Added A Stud In Alabama Product, Will Anderson Jr., Who Injects Much Needed Talent Into The Texans Line. Every Watching The Draft Fell To Floor When The Texans Trade TWo First Round Picks To Move Up From 12 To 3 To Secure Anderson. I see The Vision Of You Think He's A Sure Product, And You're Still determining What A Pick In Next Year's Draft Will Yield. Looking Down The Names Along The Rest Of The Texans Defense, The Hope Dries Up In The Houston Heat. I believe heavily In Last Year's First Round Pick, Derek Stingley Jr. and He Still Has Shut Down Cornerback Traits, But He Has To Stay Healthy And Play Up His Ability. Jalen Pitre Finished Last Season Strong, 147 Tackles Total, 71 During The Ending Stretch Of The Season. He's The Only Non-Linebacker To Finish In The Top 20 Of Top Tacklers, 11th. You Have To Look All The Way Down To 23rd To Find Another Safety On The List After Pitre. 

The Texans Need Another, Maybe Two Seasons Of Rebuilding Before They Can Return To Space Of Contention. They Discovered The Right Quarterback And A Defensive End, But The Roster As A Whole Looks Thin. No Team More Than The Texans Have A Number One Pick On Their Charts This Year Unfortunately, They Don't Own Their Pick. Season Prediction: 2-15. 

Tennessee Titans 

The Titans Lead The League In Strong Armed Quarterbacks, And Between Malik Willis, Last Year's Third Round Pick, And Will Levis, This Year's Second Round Pick, The Titans clear The Bar On Arm Power So Much So They Have Enough To Force Other Teams To Negotiate An Arms Restriction. Arm Power Has A Way of Making A Team's Evaluating Community "Delusional" On the Upside Of A Project's Prospects. Velocity And Force Covers So Many Ills On The Football Field That Even The Most Broken Players Look Fixable If The Right Can Harness The Natural Resource Of The Young Quarterback's Arm. The Titans Offense Has To Expose Willis And Levi's To Other Formats Of The Game Where Their Glamorous Sides Of The Football Will Come To The Light Should The Colts Come To Lean On Either. An Evaluative Piece From ESPN That Gathered The Opinions of Coaches On The Quarterback Class Had This To Say About Levis, "There are times when Levis throws lightning bolts instead of leading his receivers."

Both young QBs(And I Mean Young, Generously, Have A Chance To See Serious Snaps). Willis Displayed Improvements As A Pocket Passer For The Titans While Levi's Lost His Battle For The Number Two Spot Due To Injury. The Titans Will Remain Under the Guidance Of Last Year's Starter, A Guy Almost Entrenched In The Mind Of Tennesseans Ryan Tannehill. The 35-Year-Old, Ten-Year Veteran Has Accomplished Almost Everything He Could In His Four With The Team. He's led the Titans To The Best Record In The AFC, An AFC Title Berth, And Heralded Tennessee To One Of The Best Offenses Back In 2020, proving He Can Quarterback a team. Tennessee Made Football Work For Tannenhill, Who Failed To Live Up To His Pedigree as A Quarterback Drafted Top 10 To Miami In 2012. Most Football Minds Expected The Titans To Make Another Run At The Title. Still, Injuries Set In And Derailed Any Chance Of Another Go. The Titans Have Suffered Through Two Rudderless Season Since Tannehill Threw A Career 33 Touchdowns. He Struggled To Stay Healthy Last, and His Interceptions Double The Year Prior. Tannenhill's On The Decline Entering The Final Year Of His Deal And Maybe The Final One In Tennessee, The End Of A Promising Era Unfulfilled. Suppose Tannehill Can Stay Healthy, Lead The Titans To A Few Wins, And Mentor The Next Generation Into His Place. In that case, He Can Find Himself Extending His Career Years In That Role. The Derrick Henry Era In Tennessee May Also Have A Final Chapter Written This Season. Henry's A Titan In The RunningBack Industry( No Pun Intended). We Think Of Modern Offenses Operating On Pass First Principles.

Still, The Titans ran the Ball and jammed The Ball Down. Teams were Throat With The Living Sledgehammer of Derrick Henry. In Seven, Henry Has Accumulated 1750 Rushing Attempts, 8330 Yards, 78, And an Average of 4.8 With Only 18 Fumbles. That's Like Walking Through Cerulean Cave In Pokémon Red And Only Encountering One or Two Zubats, Occurrences So Frequent They Boggle The Mind When They Don't Happen. Henry Crushes The Competition In Yards After Contact. In 2020, Henry led the League In Rushing Yards And Attempts But Only Fumbled Four Times. In 2021, Henry Missed Nearly Half The Season But Still Nearly Eclipse 1000 Yards. A Work Horse And The Power To The Titans Offensive Engine Henry Heads For The Cliff. No Matter How Physically dominating the Game Of Football Takes No Prisoners. Henry Posted Admirable Numbers Last Year: 1534 Rushing Yards, 13 Touchdowns, and 4.4 A Carry But A Career High 6 Fumbles. He's Henry, But He's Not The Offensive Force, Or At Least Not Expected To Serve As the Offense. Tennessee Needs To Bolster The Offensive Line. Pff Ranked The Titans's Offensive Line Last In The NFL. Still, They Did Bring In Two New Pieces In Rookie Peter Skoronski First Round Pick This And Andre Dillard's Former Eagles First Round Pick. They should Because If You Hit Rock Bottom, you Can't Go But Up Right. The Titans Also Made Additions To The Team's Other Weakness, The Wide Receivers. The Titans Noticeably Struggled To Replaced The Production Of All Pro AJ Brown, Expectedly. The Titans Turned Around To Win The De'Andre Hopkins Sweepstakes This Offseason. He'll bring An Established Presence To The Offense, Even If People Want To Know If He's Still Got It. I Still Believe In The Upside Of Treylon Burks. Not Ever Rookie Receiver Can Walk The Foot Steps Of Justin Jefferson. Burks Underwhelmed Last Year, But The Traits, Size, Speed, Build That Attracted Scouts To Profile Continues To Justify The Promise Expected Of Him. If The Titans Can Present Anything Resembling Consistent Quarterback Play, Burks Could Begin To Lunge Towards His Expectations As A Star Wide Receiver. He Can At Least Earn More Than 53 Targets, But Burks Also NEEDS to Register for A Complete Season. Aside from The Two, The Titans Have Other Catchers Who Have Proven More, Like Kyle Philips and Chigoziem Okonkwo At Tight End. The Offense falls On Tannenhill's Shoulders. Defensively, I Like The Titans. They're A Strong Group Built On Power Upfront In Jeffrey Simmons, the second-highest DT In The League, Fresh Off Of investing in a New Year, $94 Million Deal. He's Coming Off Of A 53 Pressure, 8 Sack Season. On The Two Ends, Opposing Offenses Will Face The Duo Of Harold Landry Coming Of An ACL Tear. Still, He's A stud and Veteran Demico Autry. At Linebacker, The Defense Brought Over Two Players From The 49ers: Azeez Al-Shaair, Who Developed Behind Fred Warner In The, and Arden Key, More Of An Inside Linebacker Type. The Titans Lack Depth In The Secondary but The Starters Have Strong Pedigree. Sean Murphy-Bunting Comes Over From The Buccaneers He Struggled With Injuries But Quarterbacks Only Produced A 78.2 Passer Rating When Targeting Him. Kevin Byards Another Symbol Of Longevity In Tennessee He's A Star And A Force In Coverage. The Titans Have One More Year To Contend With This Team. Season Prediction, 9-8.