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AFC South
Houston Texans – Veteran offensive lineman
Every year the Texans seem to fool us thinking they could be championship contenders. However, they always have an ugly playoff exit (mostly against the Patriots) and even last year when they went on a 9-game win streak they just could not get anything going against their division rival Colts. I believe in Deshaun Watson and they should be more dangerous with Will Fuller back, opening up space for DeAndre Hopkins to work underneath.
Their defense has some of the baddest guys in the league with J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, two big inside backers and the underappreciated D.J. Reader. I also like the additions they have made in the secondary with Tashaun Gipson and Bradley Roby in free agency as well as the highly talented corner Lonnie Johnson, who they selected out of Kentucky in the second round.
However, the Texans went into the draft with a huge need for O-line help after having given up a league-high 62 sacks in 2018. I said before last season already that the unit would be what could hold Houston back from competing with the top teams in the AFC and when you look at how the Colts terrorized Deshaun Watson in the Wildcard Round it was really obvious. They were a pretty good run-blocking group and they could work play-action off that, but when it was time to really drop back and give Watson time to survey the field, they struggled mightily.
Despite having the potential to be quality starters down the road, I thought the Texans reached on Alabama State’s Tytus Howard and Northern Illinois’ Max Scharping after just missing out on Andre Dillard in the first round. I think adding a veteran offensive lineman would help them this upcoming season.
Indianapolis Colts – Strong safety
Speaking of Indianapolis, I put out an article on why I think the Colts are building something special and could rule the AFC for a few years. This obviously includes a generational quarterback in Andrew Luck, the wall they have built in front of him, some of the weapons they have in the passing game and a few standout talents on defense.
When I put together free agency fits for the top ten teams in terms of cap space at the end of February, I thought Landon Collins would be perfect for Indy to complement Malik Hooker as that in-the-box strong safety. Of course, they still needed to add some cornerback help and I understand why they didn’t want to pay him that amount of money the Redskins were ready to, but I’m just not sold on Clayton Geathers.
The Colts also passed on Johnathan Abram when they traded out of that 26th over pick, which would have made a lot of sense. While they selected the feisty Rock Ya-Sin at corner out of Temple with their eventual first pick and the front-seven quietly have become one of the best out there, Indianapolis ran all those split-safety looks last year because of a lack of trust in the corners and not having that middle-of-the-field tone-setter.
If you look at what defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus wants to do, he is a single-high safety guy all the way, who has the perfect rangy free safety in Malik Hooker when healthy and only adjusted his scheme as last season went along to help out their personnel. Yet, he still has to find his Kam Chancellor or Keanu Neal.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Free safety
I think if there was one team in the AFC that could go from a top ten pick to double-digit wins, it would be Jags. This squad was so close to knocking off the Patriots in the 2018 Conference Championship Game and they still have a lot of the personnel from then. It looks like Telvin Smith will take a season off and Leonard Fournette had a sophomore slump, marked by injuries and suspensions. However, they also made a big upgrade at quarterback by bringing in a Super Bowl MVP in Nick Foles.
They were that good for two years with Blake Bortles under center, who could not do anything other than completing shallow crossers and scrambling for some first downs. Cam Robinson is back healthy at left tackle and assuming second-round pick Jawaan Taylor checks out fine medically, they have two bookends to go with the league’s highest-paid guard Andrew Norwell and one the most underrated centers in Brandon Linder. They should be able to pound the rock once again.
So Jacksonville’s defense needs to get back to that 2017/18 form and I think they can. However, I didn’t really understand why they let Tashaun Gipson walk in free agency. He was a key piece to that defense I thought because not only was he clearly the best option as the deep middle safety, but he also took on most of the team’s man-coverage duties when it came to moving one of their safeties down into the slot.
The Texans ultimately paid Gipson 7.5 million annually on a three-year contract, which would not have kept the Jags from signing some of those other young studs moving towards big paydays. Ronnie Harrison was a steal last year and should fit extremely fell at strong safety, but if they are looking for a rangy free they might have to go with undrafted rookie Zedrick Woods, who was the only one at the combine to run sub-4.3.
Tennessee Titans – Boundary corner
I know I start sounding like a broken record here, but show me the big hole on the Titans roster? I know that not everybody is sold on Marcus Mariota and I need to see him play his best ball throughout this upcoming season, but there are just no glaring needs when I look at this team really.
Their O-line only got stronger with interior help in the form of free agent Rodger Saffold and third-round draft pick Nate Davis out of Charlotte. Derrick Henry finally became a rolling train over the second half of last season and their new WR trio of Corey Davis, A.J. Brown and Adam Humphries looks much better, especially with some of the guys they have coming off the bench.
While their first-round pick Jeffery Simmons might not see the field at all this year, they have some big bodies on the D-line, I expect Harold Landry to emerge as a big threat off the edge, they have an excellent duo of young inside backers with Jayon Brown and Rashaan Evans, plus Kevin Byard brings some swagger to that unit.
What I do think is an issue is the fact that the Titans only have one true outside corner in Malcolm Butler, who didn’t nearly play up to his contract last year. Logan Ryan and Adoree Jackson are at their best at nickel and they only put Leshaun Sims on the field for about 20 percent of their defensive snaps last season. Defensive coordinator Dean Pees likes to use a multitude of looks and combo-coverages, which leaves bother their corners on islands quite a bit.
