NFL 2024 Division Previews; AFC South Edition; Texans True Contenders, Titans Grab Top 5 Draft Pick

Over the next pair of months, I will be going through each division and giving an overall projection of how they could perform in the upcoming season. The record projection should be taken with a grain of salt as we are still months out before the season even starts and roster changes and injuries will occur in that time.

1) Houston Texans – Projected Record 12-5

The Texans took one of the biggest jumps you could imagine last season, being one of the worst teams in the league before the last season and switching it to making the playoffs at 10-7 and even winning a playoff game. Coach DeMeco Ryans seems to truly have the respect of his players and they respond great to him. That 2023 draft class was incredible. CJ Stroud has quickly stepped in and performed like a top-tier quarterback and will only get better and better. Mix that with rising defensive superstar Will Anderson and Tank Dell who is explosive. It's such a great building block for Houston.

How do the Texans continue to build off this and become a true contender? Well, you continue to add and add and take advantage of the fact so much elite talent is on rookie contracts and they did a great job at this point. They added pass rusher Danielle Hunter to complement Anderson along with signing and drafting multiple corners and safeties to improve what was probably their biggest weakness last year in the secondary. The biggest addition was trading for Stefon Diggs; if he continues to play similarly at his expected level this receiving group is stacked. Diggs, Dell, and Nico Collins is some trio. While they have some tough games, it’s not the hardest schedule in the world and a 12-win season could easily be in the cards for them.

2) Jacksonville Jaguars – Projected Record 10-7

Last season was disappointing for Jaguars fans, especially the latter half of the season. Some might look at their record of 9-8 and think it wasn’t a bad season and it wasn’t but coming a playoff year and win the season before, more was expected of this team. While people are rightly disappointed, not enough attention is on how good this team looked before the injuries started to pile up, none bigger than the one Trevor Lawrence suffered that shook up their season. They were one of the top teams in the conference before then and Lawrence was a legit top-10 quarterback, all information people seemed to have randomly forgotten.

I love the additions they made around Lawrence this offseason by drafting Brian Thomas Jr. to replace Calvin Ridley who had too many dropped touchdowns last season and signing reliable Gabe Davis. I trust Lawrence to play well this season, the bigger question is that defense. So, can this team bounce back and hit that first-half stretch and if they can, can they maintain it this time around? Well, it’s a big change of pace just based on the schedule as those first four games are extremely tough, however; the next few and especially the end of the season are very winnable for them so if they can even get off to a 2-2 start, they might be in a good spot. Even if this team hits a 10-7 record, that might not be enough to reach the playoffs due to how tough that section of the AFC is.

3) Indianapolis Colts – Projected Record 6-11

The Colts are coming off a season that was relatively successful considering their roster when they finished 9-8 which they did for the majority of the season without rookie Anthony Richardson who while still needs a lot of development as a passer and decision maker, his playmaking skills was showcased early on. Hopefully, that style of play he has doesn’t result in injuries piling up.

Now looking forward, it might be confusing seeing this team at 6-11 and the team can perform better than that, but there are some real concerns with Richardson's health, he needs to learn to slide and go down and now take these huge hits that jeopardize his health and his team’s success. Rookie Adonai Mitchell is a physical monster who should complement Michael Pittman Jr, but still, the Colts could use another receiving threat. Defensively the Colts were pretty awful last season although they made some real attempts to improve, it’s going to take some time so that, mixed with health concerns for their starting quarterback, 6-11 seems reasonable.

4) Tennessee Titans – Projected Record 4-13

The Titans did not have an elite roster by any stretch of the imagination, they didn’t even have a good talent roster in comparison to other NFL teams and as a result, they finished 6-11 which is better than they probably should’ve been. Still, they decided to move on from Mike Vrabel which puzzled everyone and doesn’t make a lot of sense and it’s yet to be seen if Brian Callahan can get that same response from his players.

The offense is not ready to take that next step and might even regress. Quarterback Will Levis has not done nearly enough to invoke confidence as a franchise quarterback, as well as losing their identity the last 8 seasons on offense when Derrick Henry moved on. Replacing him with Tony Pollard who didn’t look the same last season is not exactly hyping up Titans fans. Their receiving talent is not ideal, filled with receivers past their prime. If there is any saving grace. It’s the fact they’re committed to building up their offensive line, evidenced by drafting JC Latham. I do believe the defense will be better than the offense with some solid additions like T’Vondre Sweat and Chidobe Awuzie, along with elite corner L’Jarius Sneed. Even with those additions, it’s not enough, this team is weakest in the division and plays a tough schedule so 4-13 is what could be expected.