Team Preview: Indianapolis Colts

 

A season ago, the Colts finished a game shy of making the playoffs and winning the AFC South after dropping their last game of the season to the Houston Texans. This year they hope to have a healthy Anthony Richardson to lead the way for success in 2024. 

Indianapolis only saw a couple games of their rookie quarterback in 2023 before he eventually suffered a season-ending injury. Learning to be more cautious while running the football was a big part of Richardson's journey back from injury and is hoping to play a full seventeen games this season. 

The Colts did not make a lot of new acquisitions this offseason, rather they made the effort to re-sign a lot of their notable pieces on both sides of the football. Indy was able to extend key guys like Michael Pittman, Zaire Franklin, DeForest Buckner, and Kenny Moore, keeping these core players intact. Extending Jonathan Taylor last season took a lot of pressure off the Colts this offseason to get that deal done as well. 

Aside from locking down a lot of their core players, the Colts had one of the better draft classes in 2024 as well. With the 15th pick the Colts were able to scoop up Laiatu Latu, one of my favorite defensive players in all of college football in 2023. In the second round, they were able to give AR15 some more help when they drafted a receiver, Adonai Mitchell. 

Mitchell is now added to a receiver core headlined by Michael Pittman and can easily work his way up the Colts depth chart. Latu will now be working with Kwity Paye in the defensive ends room as Indianapolis looks to cause even more havoc on their opposing offenses. 

The key for the Colts in 2024 will be to stay healthy. With Anthony Richardson being out most of the season, Jonathan Taylor also missed seven games last season. Even with the injuries a season ago, the Colts were still able to finish 9-8, just a game out of the playoffs. With the AFC South improving mightily all around the Colts, staying healthy is a must for Indy in 2024. 

Team Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

 

After a disappointing season in 2023 which consisted of a massive downfall, the Jaguars look to prove why last year was just a fluke. The Jags look to bounce back with their superstar quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, at the helm. 

Jacksonville was sitting comfortably in the AFC South last season until they dropped five of their last six games, losing the division by one game to the Houston Texans. Duval County has made a lot of notable transactions, including numerous extensions so they don't have a repeat season of 2023. 

The Jags extended two of their cornerstone pieces this offseason after giving both Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence five-year deals to stay with the team until the near end of the decade. Along with extending Allen, Jacksonville also extended their other starting linebacker, Foye Oluokun, for three more years. Many consider this duo to be one of the top linebacker combinations throughout the NFL. Oluokun has earned a lot of praise for his play throughout the years. 

Moving on from extensions, the Jaguars had a very busy offseason to say the least. The Jags moved on from big pieces such as Calvin Ridley, Foley Fatukasi, and Darious Williams. Jacksonville did sign some notable replacements for these big names such as Gabe Davis, Darnell Savage, Arik Armstead, and more. 

Doug Pederson and the rest of management believed it was a good idea to shake up the dynamic of the team after the collapse they witnessed in 2023. With the rest of the AFC South notably improving around them, the Jags wanted to do the same. 

The Jaguars hope to see more of that dynamic offense featuring Trevor Lawrence and star running back Travis Etienne this upcoming season. Doug Pederson has supplied Lawrence with ample weapons this season including a stacked receiver core, and one of my favorite tight ends in the league in Evan Engram. 

Aside from free agency, the team also announced that they will be building a brand new stadium in Jacksonville coming in the near future. With there being rumors whether the Jags will relocate overseas because of owner Shad Khan, this almost solidifies that Jacksonville will be staying put on U.S. soil. 

It will be a tough climb for the Jaguars to make it back up to the top in the AFC South with the Texans looming, but I do believe this team will be better than last year's debacle. Jacksonville definitely has the talent to at worst sneak into the AFC Playoffs as a wild card team. 

 

Team Preview: Tennessee Titans

 It is safe to say that the Tennessee Titans do not want to repeat their last place finish in the AFC South from a year ago after they finished the season at 6-11. Some notable offseason transactions though have made the Titans a little more competitive from a year ago. 

It was a nightmare of a season in 2023 for Tennessee, but throughout the struggles, they may have found their franchise quarterback in Will Levis. Levis played in nine games last season and showed some very intriguing signs when he took over the helm of the Titans. 

Tennessee put Levis in a much better situation to succeed this year with some of the new weapons they added for him. Despite losing longtime Titan, Derrick Henry, the Titans offense looks a lot better than it has in previous years. 

To replace Henry, they went out and added a star running back in Tony Pollard for the next three years. But this isn't even the biggest headline in the new acquisitions on this offense. To pair along with DeAndre Hopkins, the Titans also signed Calvin Ridley to a massive deal and Tyler Boyd as well to fill out the receiver corps. 

Along with their rival Texans, the Titans are atop of that prestigious list of best receiving corps in the NFL. The Titans not only upgraded immensely on offense, but the defense is looking sharper as well. One of the biggest defensive acquisitions was when Tennessee got their hands on L'Jarius Sneed to take over their cornerback room. After winning two Super Bowls with the Chiefs, Sneed has made his name as one of the NFL's premier cornerbacks. 

The Titans finished in the middle of the pack in total defense last season, but with the addition of Sneed and others, their ranking will certainly boost up. Tennessee has certainly added some talent, but will that talent translate from paper to the field? 

Team Preview: Houston Texans

One of the most exciting teams in the NFL, the Houston Texans come into the 2024 regular season with very high expectations after winning the AFC South a season ago. After a superb first season with CJ Stroud at the helm, the Texans are now viewed as a top contender in the AFC. 

Going into last season, critics thought that it would take time for these young Texans to gel together, and boy were they proven wrong. Houston's improvement from the 2022 season to the 2023 season is something extraordinary and remarkable to embark upon. They turned a 3-13-1 record into a 10-7 and division title in just one calendar year. 

People knew what CJ Stroud was capable of, but no one thought he would adjust and takeover the NFL this easily. The Texans easily had one of the best offenses a year ago and during the offseason they got greedy and added to their powerhouse. They did that by acquiring two veteran pro bowlers with a ton of experience on this young Houston team. 

They signed Joe Mixon in free agency, and traded for Stefon Diggs, one of the league's premier wideouts. Houston never really had a solidified RB1 last season and now they have that in Mixon. And adding Diggs to this receiving group arguably gives them the best receiver corps in the league. Diggs now joins Tank Dell and Nico Collins to headline this outstanding Texans offense. 

Houston also made a huge transaction on defense after acquiring Danielle Hunter. Hunter was fifth in the NFL last season in sacks with 16.5 and will now be paired with Will Anderson Jr. as one of the scariest defensive end duos in the league. DeMeco Ryans is absolutely salivating over what this dynamic duo can bring to this defense. 

Along with a young team comes a young coaching staff led by DeMeco Ryans. Ryans was a nominee for Coach of the Year a season ago and should make another strong case for it this season. Houston was also able to keep Bobby Slowik as their offensive coordinator after strong interest from other teams for their head coaching position. Slowik was the main cause behind the revitalization of this Houston offense in just one year.

The other teams in the AFC South improved, but I still expect the Texans to walk away with this division pretty easily. They easily had one of the best offseason's out of the rest of the 31 teams and will carry their momentum from 2023 into this upcoming season.