AFC South Could Be NFL's Next Great Division

[MIKE75]

The AFC South could be set to become the NFL's next great division

I didn't really think about it until i saw three articles in a matter of a couple days all about the emergence of the AFC South and how it could be a very strong division.

All four teams house promising young quarterbacks in the form of Andrew Luck,Brock Osweiler,Blake Bortles and Marcus Mariota.

Each team except Indy have made significant moves to improve in free agency.

Jacksonville brought in DE Malik Jackson,CB Prince Amukamara and S Tashaun Gipson on defense along with RB Chris Ivory on offense. Houston went and got QB Brock Osweiler and RB Lamar Miller. Tennessee went and signed RB Demarco Murray,WR Rishard Matthews and OC Ben Jones.

The draft hasn't arrived yet and that will make teams even stronger.

The NFC West was once a division that everyone knew was really bad. So bad that Seattle in 2010 won the division with a 7-9 record the first time a team ever won a division with a losing season. It was bad for a good while then it changed in a huge way and it turned out to be one of the strongest.

In 2013 Seattle had 13 wins,San Francisco had 12 wins,Arizona had 10 wins. So even though AZ had 10 wins they ended up missing the postseason thats how strong the division had gotten

Also San Francisco and Seattle both had the top defenses in the whole league.

Every season since 2012 the AFC South division had the league's worst team. Now the AFC South could be making a similar turnaround.

A big reason why the division sucked for many years is Indy was the only team with a good starting QB but now the rest of the teams have caught up and gotten capable starting QB's and improved rosters as well.

So soon the AFC South could be similar to the NFC West where you regularly see as many as three teams end up with winning seasons and competiting for playoff spots.

Houston had a top five defense in 2015,Jax had a top ten pass offense,Tennessee was close to having a top ten defense,Indy most years with Luck have a top five offense. As you can see from those stats each team has a position of strength.







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[DirtDirtDirt]

Could definitely be on the rise for sure

Still think the Titans are a couple years away, probably still a 6-10, 7-9 type roster

Jacksonville seems loaded, gotta start seeing their Win total match their talent level

If Brock is for real, they could be poised as a 10-11 win team

You would think Luck and the Colts will be on a mission this season

 

[Clayton]

Its what happened with the NFC West. If you're the worst division in the NFL for a really long period of time, eventually those high draft picks start developing into something.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

This is a big maybe right now...TN still needs playmakers on both sides of the ball, but if they do better than 8-8 this season...they might be on their way to 10 wins in '17.

JAX...on paper they look loaded to at least 9-10 wins now...'16 will be a key year for them.

HOU...should be in the hunt for the DIV...IND...their biggest move imo was keeping their HC intact.

If this DIV doesn't have at least two 10 win teams by '17, it probably won't happen.

 

[flyerhawk]

I don't see it being a great division this year but if the QBs pan out and the teams hit on a few drafts picks, it could be in a year or two.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Can't say I see it happening next year. It's just not going to click for these QB's just in one offseason most likely. Heck, Luck's surrounding cast leaves quite a bit to desire, and that's before you examine his actual play. 2017 or 2018 would be the year I look at for these teams to be a legitimate threat.

 

[Southieinnc]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-mean-it?campaign=tw-nf-sf22620267-sf22620267
The AFC South could be set to become the NFL's next great division....

Each team except Indy have made significant moves to improve in free agency.....

A big reason why the division sucked for many years is Indy.....

I could be hit by an asteroid.....

 

[Brees#1]

I could be hit by an asteroid.....

Are you forshadowing something?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Can't say I see it happening next year. It's just not going to click for these QB's just in one offseason most likely. Heck, Luck's surrounding cast leaves quite a bit to desire, and that's before you examine his actual play. 2017 or 2018 would be the year I look at for these teams to be a legitimate threat.

idk if any of them will rise to the point of dominating outside the DIV and being a consistent 11 game type winner but I do see the DIV games being split a lot more and 8 to 10 win teams from top to bottom. We'll have to revisit this next yr to see if any AFCS teams are picking in the top 10.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

Its what happened with the NFC West. If you're the worst division in the NFL for a really long period of time, eventually those high draft picks start developing into something.

Could say in the AFC West we've seen something similar...

2010 10 wins won the AFCW, only winning team
2011 8 wins won it. no winning teams...

Then...

2012 13 wins win it
2013 3 playoff teams there and the AFC SB rep
2014 3 winning teams there
2015 SB champ, 12 and an 11 win team. Even San Diego has the same out of division record as Houston.

 

[huskers1217]

No faith in osweiler down here. Lol @ Houston. And Lamar Miller will never be better than what Arian was here.

 

[BigKen]

and then............................someone said, John Elway..................and the guy next to him said Andy Reid.....and the third guy said, oh shit...............Bill Belichick..........AFC South? Never mind.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

No faith in osweiler down here. Lol @ Houston. And Lamar Miller will never be better than what Arian was here.

But for a 9 win team...

Is Lamar Miller better than Blue/Polk?

And do you have more faith in Osweiler than you did in Daniels, Weeden, Yates, Mallet and Hoyer going into last year?


Texans are a team I could see winning 12 games as likely as winning 4. lol Optimist would put them up from last year. Pessimist says Hoyer outplaying his skill level is the best they could have hoped for and they are heading down.

And Luck/Mariota/Bortles/Osweiler doesn't look like a bad QB'd division if you are looking for the future.

 

[Southieinnc]

Are you forshadowing something?

I'm a lot more likely to be hit by an asteroid than the AFCS is of becoming "the next great division"

 

[cdumler7]

But for a 9 win team...

Is Lamar Miller better than Blue/Polk?

And do you have more faith in Osweiler than you did in Daniels, Weeden, Yates, Mallet and Hoyer going into last year?


Texans are a team I could see winning 12 games as likely as winning 4. lol Optimist would put them up from last year. Pessimist says Hoyer outplaying his skill level is the best they could have hoped for and they are heading down.

And Luck/Mariota/Bortles/Osweiler doesn't look like a bad QB'd division if you are looking for the future.

One could also say a big part of Houston's record happened because of the division they played in. I mean they won 9 games and 5 of those wins were because of the division they played in. 2 other wins happened against teams that picked top-6 in the draft beyond their own division. So that then leaves the Bengals win which hey I will give them that one as a quality win. The other was the Saints. So right now I look at those 9 wins and say wow they had it pretty easy with the division they played in.

So to me if the other 3 teams draft well and throw in the talent they added FA as well the Texans could be looking at the divisional games not being quite so easy to count as an automatic win. So even though they possibly improved roster wise they might actually finish with a worse record than last year.

 

[Rockinkuwait]

One could also say a big part of Houston's record happened because of the division they played in. I mean they won 9 games and 5 of those wins were because of the division they played in. 2 other wins happened against teams that picked top-6 in the draft beyond their own division. So that then leaves the Bengals win which hey I will give them that one as a quality win. The other was the Saints. So right now I look at those 9 wins and say wow they had it pretty easy with the division they played in.

So to me if the other 3 teams draft well and throw in the talent they added FA as well the Texans could be looking at the divisional games not being quite so easy to count as an automatic win. So even though they possibly improved roster wise they might actually finish with a worse record than last year.

So 4-6 outside their weak division, almost as bad as the 2010 Seahawks winning their division and being 3-8 out of it.

And of course 2011 Bronco's only "quality" win was over the 9-7 Bengals in week 2 of that year. Everyone else was .500 or below.



But you are right, the pessimist in me would see it that way. That they could improve, but decline because the division around them is improving quicker.

 

[cdumler7]

So 4-6 outside their weak division, almost as bad as the 2010 Seahawks winning their division and being 3-8 out of it.

And of course 2011 Bronco's only "quality" win was over the 9-7 Bengals in week 2 of that year. Everyone else was .500 or below.



But you are right, the pessimist in me would see it that way. That they could improve, but decline because the division around them is improving quicker.

Sorry I guess I should have been a little more specific. I do think the division can greatly improve. They have some very promising young QB's if they can stay healthy. Right now I really like what Jacksonville and Tennessee have done so far. I think Houston is going to find it harder to have a winning record even though I do think they have improved at some very vital positions mostly because the division got much harder.

Now realize with the Seahawks and Broncos part of the huge escalation in wins even after winning the division with such a bad record had a lot to do with the improvement at the QB position. We are talking them getting top-7 QB's added to the roster to help out. I'm not sure Osweiler is that type of QB. Maybe he will be and surprise at least me but in my opinion while he is an improvement on Hoyer I don't think it is this giant leap forward.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Its what happened with the NFC West. If you're the worst division in the NFL for a really long period of time, eventually those high draft picks start developing into something.

Exactly....

 

[HammerDown]

 

[jarntt]

I agree that it COULD be the next great division...but for now it sucks...