As a Texans fan, I'm not afraid to admit that the Jaguars really killed it in this draft. I can imagine your excitement over the defense, which should easily be the best in the division and at least top 4-5 in the conference overall if not the league. I still like our defense especially the secondary but it isn't at the Jaguars level IMO lol.


All in all, I think the AFC South as a whole just got very interesting and definitely more improved. The Titans could have a dangerous offense with Mariota and Murray/Henry, the Colts could have a solid oline now(though I think they are still severely lacking a defense), the Texans FINALLY should be faster on offense and more explosive(if Brock can at least be serviceable), and you guys now have a scary defense along with Likely an improved Bortles. Honestly if you guys don't win at least 8 or 9 games, Gus Bradley definitely needs to be canned. I thought for sure he would be a good coach but now it's time for him to take that next step.


A poster on our boards made a bold prediction saying the Jags and Texans would compete for the division title, and I told him that at this point that's more like a potential spoiler lol. When you don't factor in Andrew Luck, the Colts suddenly look like the weakest overall team in the division.


Look forward to the season! I know there will be trash talk lol, but at least these division games should finally be meaningful and intense!

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For obvious reasons, the Texans pass rush scares me to death as a Jaguars fan.

 

While I am stoked over our past three drafts, I think the AFC south overall is strong enough from top to bottom such that no team's fans can really be cocky about their chances.

 

Even if you think Grigson is a dumpster fire for the Colts, a healthy Luck gives them a legitimate shot in just about every game.

 

Predictable improvement from Mariota from year 1 to year 2, plus the pieces the tacks have added around him will make them a tough opponent for a team not prepared to be physical and stop the run.

 

If the Texans hit on their receiver picks, they will be a bigger, more physical and talented version of the Patriots receiving corps (sans Brady and Gronk, of course, but formidable nonetheless).  How is Duane Brown progressing?

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

For obvious reasons, the Texans pass rush scares me to death as a Jaguars fan.

 

While I am stoked over our past three drafts, I think the AFC south overall is strong enough from top to bottom such that no team's fans can really be cocky about their chances.

 

Even if you think Grigson is a dumpster fire for the Colts, a healthy Luck gives them a legitimate shot in just about every game.

 

Predictable improvement from Mariota from year 1 to year 2, plus the pieces the tacks have added around him will make them a tough opponent for a team not prepared to be physical and stop the run.

 

If the Texans hit on their receiver picks, they will be a bigger, more physical and talented version of the Patriots receiving corps (sans Brady and Gronk, of course, but formidable nonetheless).  How is Duane Brown progressing?

 

In my opinion the texans pass rush is the only thing in the division that will give the team any possible problems at all, and that's essentially all based on whether Joeckel stays a human turnstile. If Beachum beats him out or Joeckel plays better than he did in week 17 last year then even the texans pass rush won't be a problem.

 

I don't see Luck succeeding against the defense the Jaguars will field next season with the major secondary improvements barring major injuries all over that side of the field, and I don't see the titans or colts even significantly slowing down the offense if there aren't major injuries all over that side of the ball, too.

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If Jack takes away Allen, Ramsey can take away Moncrief, House can take away Hilton, Dorsett would seem to be the only threat.  Not because Prince A is a bad player, but I don't know if he can match up with his speed.  But with Gipson, he'd have help.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

For obvious reasons, the Texans pass rush scares me to death as a Jaguars fan.


While I am stoked over our past three drafts, I think the AFC south overall is strong enough from top to bottom such that no team's fans can really be cocky about their chances.


Even if you think Grigson is a dumpster fire for the Colts, a healthy Luck gives them a legitimate shot in just about every game.


Predictable improvement from Mariota from year 1 to year 2, plus the pieces the tacks have added around him will make them a tough opponent for a team not prepared to be physical and stop the run.


If the Texans hit on their receiver picks, they will be a bigger, more physical and talented version of the Patriots receiving corps (sans Brady and Gronk, of course, but formidable nonetheless). How is Duane Brown progressing?

Agree completely, nice analysis. I really think the division could be a close race this reason for all the reasons you stated, but at the same time each team has a questionable factor that could be it's Achilles heel, and therefore like you said no fan base can get too cocky. For you guys, the questionable factor is definitely Gus Bradley at this point, since there definitely will be no excuse for him to not win at least 8 games with the talent on your roster now. Like I said I thought for sure he would be a great head coach, but I think he's ultimately what is holding your team back and if he doesn't get this team rallied and fired up to play better this season, then he should get the boot.


For the Colts, it's definitely the defense that could derail them like I said along with overall depth. Pound for pound, they have pretty much the weakest roster overall compared to the rest of the division, and Luck is definitely the reason why they are able to stay formidable regardless. But like they proved last season, if he goes down, the rest of that team is pretty much done. He's I know that applies to every team if they lose their franchise QB, but the Patriots for example have a talented enough roster to maybe survive if Brady misses some games. Definitely not the case with the Colts. I'm also not really a fan of Pagano, he's maybe an average coach at best. Glad he beat cancer, but it doesn't make him a great coach.


And finally the Texans Achilles heel is obviously the unknown at QB. If Brock at least shows he's above average, the Texans have enough roster talent to compete with anyone. But even though I like and believe in him,the odds of Brock being that are still 50/50 at best. I think we have a special head coach in O'Brien, he has flaws he still needs to work at but what he's done the last couple of seasons even with subpar QB play is promising and it's been told that guys want to play for him. It's just all a matter of QB play. And the possibility of not getting a good one for several years is possible, which makes us fans cringe.



Also to answer you about Brown, from what I read his rehab is going well and he thinks he will be ready by the start of the season, but personally I'm skeptical. Even if he's cleared to play the team probably shouldn't put him in the lineup for a few games, but of course we don't have a viable backup option so it's tough to say...

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Thanks for the classy post, bobizzle. Do us a favor and hang around through the regular season...would be fun getting your take on AFC South stuff.

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"We believe in victory!"   - Gus Bradley
"I don't want to believe.  I want to know."   - Carl Sagan

I think the AFC South will no longer be the laughing stock of the NFL after this Free Agency & Draft... I feel the Colts are the biggest losers in the off season so far...

 

The team I am actually the most worried about is the Titans, with all those extra picks/players if they all pan out.. scary stuff..

 

Good thing they have ownership problems along with HC Mularkey at the helm.

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Nah man, JJ Watt will bulldoze over Joeckel and sack Bortles 7 times and we'll lose.

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Combine forces to crush Andrew Luck 4x per season.

 

Steve Young said it best years ago when asked if he even bothered to look a the schedule when it was released.  He responded (and I'll parahrase) with something like, "I would look immediately to see when we were playing Tampa Bay because that's the game that I knew I'd be getting hit the most.  That game was a matter of survival"  --- that was the era when TB had Sapp, D. Brooks, J. Lynch, Nickerson, R. Barber, etc.

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Nah man, JJ Watt will bulldoze over Joeckel and sack Bortles 7 times and we'll lose.

 

Dude, Joekel has been working out with Will Grier this year and put on some natural body mass the past few months .....

 

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Dude, Joekel has been working out with Will Grier this year and put on some natural body mass the past few months .....
 

lol. ped 4 game suspension coming up.

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lol. ped 4 game suspension coming up.

Nah man. Just cell tech and creatine.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

Thanks for the classy post, bobizzle. Do us a favor and hang around through the regular season...would be fun getting your take on AFC South stuff.

You're welcome and sure thing! It'll especially be great to have discussions and debates now that the whole division should be competitive. It just makes watching the game and being a fan much more meaningful.


Plus I know y'all have had to suffer watching a mediocre team for the last several seasons now, and it's cool when a fan base can finally be excited about their team if they haven't had a reason to be in awhile.

Fans of the Astros in Houston know what that's like, having been terrible for so long but are finally respectable now (though granted they aren't doing too hot right now lol).

It's also why I'm happy for Raiders fans, they've had an irrelevant team for so long and it mw looms like they could finally potentially be a playoff contender.

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I read somewhere that the Raiders have sold out every game this season. It's too bad they can't resolve their stadium issues but I don't want to derail the thread...

 

I've circled December 18- the Jaguars at Texans game could be for the AFC South title.

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

As a Texans fan, I'm not afraid to admit that the Jaguars really killed it in this draft. I can imagine your excitement over the defense, which should easily be the best in the division and at least top 4-5 in the conference overall if not the league. I still like our defense especially the secondary but it isn't at the Jaguars level IMO lol.

!

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhbb....... no.


They may have some interesting pieces on paper, but you still need the man with a plan to put it all together.


I'll believe they have the best defense in the division when I see it.


Most talented... maybe, I'm not even going to argue that. But to go ahead & say they have the best defense now, may as well say we have the best offense.


Nothing against the Jags fans, or their players... I love their draft, but to be the man, you got to beat the man & right now, we the man.

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ImATexan

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhbb....... no.


They may have some interesting pieces on paper, but you still need the man with a plan to put it all together.


I'll believe they have the best defense in the division when I see it.


Most talented... maybe, I'm not even going to argue that. But to go ahead & say they have the best defense now, may as well say we have the best offense.


Nothing against the Jags fans, or their players... I love their draft, but to be the man, you got to beat the man & right now, we the man.

Lol.

 

'nuff said.

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Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhbb....... no.


They may have some interesting pieces on paper, but you still need the man with a plan to put it all together.


I'll believe they have the best defense in the division when I see it.


Most talented... maybe, I'm not even going to argue that. But to go ahead & say they have the best defense now, may as well say we have the best offense.


Nothing against the Jags fans, or their players... I love their draft, but to be the man, you got to beat the man & right now, we the man.

 

I can somewhat agree with this... right now...  Let's see how games play out, especially after the 1st quarter of the season.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

As stoked as I am about this draft (and for that matter, the last three), I can't argue with Thunderkyss.

 

The Texans deserve the presumption of being preseason favorites over everyone else in the division-especially us-until we can knock them off.

 

They absolutely dominated us last year-especially in the second game.

 

Until we prove we can match up better against them-especially against their defense, we really don't have much to stand on.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Bobizzle, as your unbiased opinion who do you think has the best offense in the division?


Best defense?

Secondary?

QB?

WR Duo?

TE?

RB?


I think the Jags have best offense

QB is Luck....if healthy

WR DUO is ARob and Hurns, best receiver is hands down Hopkins.

TE is Thomas?

RB is Foster, could be Murray? Ivory?

Best defense.....Texans but Jags could take that with this draft alone and addition of Gipson and Jackson.


Your thoughts?

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QBs

 

1. Luck

2. Bortles

3. Mariota

4. Osweiler

 

RBs

 

1.  Murray

2.  Ivory

3. Yeldon

4. Miller

5. Henry

6. Gore

 

TEs

 

1. Walker

2. Thomas

3. Allen

4.Griffin

 

WRs

1. Hopkins

2. Robinson

3. Hilton

4. Hurns

5. Moncrief

6. Dorial Green-Beckham

 

LT

1. Brown

2. Lewan

3. Castonzo

4. Joeckel

 

(To be continued)

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!