There was a lot of hope for the AFC south heading into the 2024 season. The Houston Texans were coming off of a tremendous year in which they went from the number 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft to the divisional round of the playoffs, and the Indianapolis Colts went 9-8 and nearly won the division with Gardner Minshew as their quarterback for most of the year. Jacksonville obviously had a tough end to the 2023 season as they were 8-3 at a point, before losing 5 of their final 6 games to miss out on the playoffs entirely. Yes it was a tough ending to the year, but entering 2024 – they had a 24 year old quarterback along with a first round receiver and made improvements on the roster to signify – they would be a really competitive team this year and a difficult team to beat on any given Sunday. Tennessee also had some flashes from their rookie quarterback in Will Levis – most notably the Falcons game, but the offensive line was a big problem and so was the receiving corps. But here we are in the middle of December and the future of the AFC South looks bleak. You can make an argument for each teams future for various reasons – but with where this division is collectively – I have a lot of concerns moving forward. And in today’s video we’re going to break down why the future of the AFC South is very concerning. And there is a lot to dive into in today’s video and without further ado – let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video with the Indianapolis Colts. The 2024 Colts season can best be described in one word – and that’s a rollercoaster. The high’s have been incredibly high while the lows – have been – some of the lowest lows an organization can have. Anthony Richardson can make plays that maybe one or two other players in the history of the league can make – then he’ll follow it up with an interception you would hate to see from a collegiate quarterback – let alone a starting quarterback in the NFL. There was the famous check out play from Anthony Richardson in the Texans game in which the Colts lost by 3 points. Joe Flacco started the ensuing two games against the Vikings and Bills in which Indy lost both games and had a total of 6 turnovers and in a 2 game span in which they put up just 33 points. And even 7 of those points in the Vikings game – came from the defense. I have been a big Anthony Richardson defender and I will be the first to say his play on the field looks a lot better than what the numbers actually do – and we can call it what it is – the pure passing numbers from Anthony Richardson are ugly. Period. But what concerns me about the Colts future is how some of these situations were handled throughout the 2024 season. Everyone knew entering the year that Anthony Richardson needed time and needed to play in the NFL to – you know – actually develop. And everyone is usually on board with a team going through a rebuild and a team going through tough times – until it’s actually time to go through tough times.
Not every team is the Detroit Lions who started the 2022 season with a 1-6 record and have been nearly unstoppable since then. There were talks of Shane Steichen being on the hot seat because there was a part of the locker room that was basically saying “I’m not here to go through a rebuild with a young quarterback, play Joe Flacco who gives us a better chance to win”. And this is my biggest concern with the Colts moving forward. I think Shane Steichen is a good coach and I think there is a really good chance this team wins 9 games this year if not 10. That would put Shane Steichen at 18-16 through 2 years and with the two rosters he’s had since being named the head coach back in 2023. Personally I think that’s overachieving with what Shane Steichen has been dealt, and with all of the adversity he’s been dealt in the process. But I also have a lot of concerns with players they’ve paid on their roster.
Jonathan Taylor had a lot of carries during his time at Wisconsin and from his true freshmen season all the way back in 2017 through is second season in the NFL in 2021 – he had over 1,600 touches in a 5 year span. The Colts can get out of his contract after the 2025 season – but I do think a slight regression is coming and his yards per carry has slowly decreased over the years too. Michael Pittman has also been a disappointment in 2024 as after having an 1,100 yard year in 2023 – he is on pace for under 750 yards in 2024 – which is certainly not what the Colts had in mind when they gave him a 3 year $70 million dollar contract this past offseason. My other big concern with the Colts is when you look at their losses – which are to teams like Green Bay – and I would argue this was worse because it was against Malik Willis – but losing to teams like the Texans, the Vikings, the Bills, and the Lions – even if Indy improves in 2025 – which they very much can – I go back to the question of – are they going to be able to go into a Baltimore, a Kansas City, or a Buffalo and win with the season on the line? Just once by the way – much less in consecutive weeks. And I think a lot of the Colts future success relies heavily – and I mean heavily upon the development between year 2 and year 3 of Anthony Richardson. Because with where the rest of this roster currently is – I have a lot of concerns.
The Houston Texans are up and out of the 4 teams in the AFC south – I think their future is the brightest and I don’t think that’s a particularly hot take. But I don’t think the Texans future is as bright as some people want to make it out to be for a couple of reasons. Whenever a player like CJ Stroud has a rookie season like he had in 2023 – it’s natural to get caught up in the hype and to project the best case scenario. It was easy to sit back from February through August of 2024 and basically say – he’s going to build on what was a 4,100 yard 23 passing touchdown season with another year of continuity between himself, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and of course – offensive coordinator and play caller – Bobby Slowik. And CJ put up those numbers in 15 games as he missed a few games last year for those who may not remember. And then you add in Joe Mixon who has been a lot better than I thought and Stefon Diggs via a trade and the expectations were enormous. The expectations were never fair for the 2024 Texans offense because to a lot of people – it was now time for CJ to put up 4,500 or even 5,000 yards along with 35 passing touchdowns and to lead this team to 12 or 13 wins and an AFC championship game appearance.
I put out a video this past offseason that basically said to slow down on the Texans hype train because there’s a lot that can go wrong – and a lot has in 2024. This isn’t to take a victory lap as much as it is to acknowledge – the 2024 Texans are a perfect example of how hard it is to win in the NFL – and consistently. Ask any Texans fan and they’ll tell you they are frustrated with Bobby Slowik – and that’s another thing that never gets discussed when bringing up teams futures – is not only can players not live up to enormous expectations – but this also applies to play callers and Slowik is a perfect example. This team has 3 400 yard games in all of 2024 and they all happened in the first 5 games of the year. I don’t think the Texans are doomed by any means, but I have a lot of concerns with the offensive line moving forward and how they’re going to fix it entering 2025. Building an offensive line isn’t easy and they selected guard Kenyon Green out of Texas A and M back in 2022 – and he’s only played in 24 of 47 games and when he’s played – he’s been bad.
And unfortunately I would say this is a draft bust at this point. The Texans also do not have as much cap space as you would think in 2025 and it’s because they went all in this past offseason. They traded for Stefon Diggs, they signed Azeez Al Shaair and Denico Autry in free agency, they’re paying Dalton Schultz $14 million in 2025, and they’re paying Tytus Howard and Laremy Tunsil a combined $51.8 million dollars. And to be clear – I respect any time a team goes all in – truly – but this hasn’t gone according to plan – not even close. And I think in some ways 2025 is going to be a bit of a clean up year for this team especially from a financial perspective. Overall I think it’s been a pretty disappointing season for a variety of reasons. Yes I know Stefon Diggs tore his ACL and Nico Collins was out for several weeks – but this team has allowed 30 or more points twice – and fort hat matter – 25 or more points just 4 times. They also forced 5 turnovers against the Lions and lost. 4 of their 5 losses have been preventable and it’s been frustrating to watch this team not be able to capitalize in a year where they easily could have. And my biggest fear for this team is that they’ll play the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the playoffs. And Lamar Jackson is having a great season and quietly has 29 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions and I think the Ravens would beat the Texans and that would lead to a questions this offseason for Houston. And I don’t think they have a bad future ahead of them by any means, I just worry with where they currently are and how they plan to take their next step.
I hope you enjoyed today’s article and we breakdown the Titans and Jags within the video below! To summarize why the Titans future scares me – I worry about what they’re going to do at the quarterback position in 2025 and I think they will have a losing record. At that point, there is a real chance 2025 is a wasted year and they fire Brian Callahan and are forced to head into 2026 with a new head coach and quarterback and I also worry about the future with General Manager Ran Carthon. The Jaguars are rumored to keep current GM Trent Baalke which would be an absolute disaster and this franchise has under achieved over the past 5 years since he became the teams GM back in November of 2020. I do not trust his decision making and I really worry how he would navigate a draft with his job on the line because that would reek of on word – which of course is desperation. I wish the AFC South the best, but unfortunately I have a lot of concerns with what each teams long term plan is at this point in time.
