In the span of one season, it went from the worst division in the NFL, to a highly competitive group. Such is the nature of the National Football League in the free-agency era.
In 2022, the Jacksonville Jaguars overcame a 4-8 start by winning their final five games and captured the AFC South. Doug Pederson’s club rallied from a 27-0 deficit to win a playoff game before succumbing to the eventual Super Bowl LVII champion Chiefs.
Elsewhere, the Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, and Houston Texans all lost at least 10 contests. Those three teams combined for a dismal 14-35-2-to record. Ouch!
Holy turnaround, Batman. In 2023, the Titans (6-11) were the only team in the AFC South to sport a losing record. Meanwhile, the Texans went from last to first winning capturing the top spot with a 10-7 mark, while the Jaguars and Colts both finished 9-8.
This has been another pretty wild offseason in terms of player moves when it comes to this quartet, save for Indianapolis. General manager Chris Ballard obviously feels very confident about what he’s done over the last few years. The organization spent its time re-signing its own unrestricted free agents while adding you in the draft.
What players were the top acquisitions for each of these four clubs this year? On the other hand, which performers will wind up being critical losses for each organization? It starts with the reigning AFC South champions, who for the second consecutive year were once again one of the busiest franchises in the league this offseason.
Top addition, biggest departure for the 4 AFC South teams
Houston Texans
Best addition: DE Danielle Hunter
There seem to be an exchange program between the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans this offseason. The latter lost defensive end Jonathan Greenard, while DeMeco Ryans’ club secured the services of four-time Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter – who is coming off the best season of his career.
The former member of the Purple Gang, who missed all of 2020 and nine games in 2021 due to injuries, finished fifth in the NFL with a personal-high 16.5 sacks. Hunter totaled 83 tackles and four forced fumbles. He and 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson Jr. make for potent bookends.
Biggest loss: LB Blake Cashman
Speaking of the Vikings, here’s another former Texans’ defender who joined Kevin O’Connell’s team this offseason. Linebacker Blake Cashman enjoyed a career year in his second season with the Texans and his fifth NFL campaign. He led Houston with 104 tackles, to go along with two sacks and a pair of takeaways.
Originally a fifth-round pick of the New York Jets in 2019, he played in a total of 14 games in three seasons with the club. Now he is Pro Football Focus’ eight-ranked linebacker, earning his highest mark in terms of his play vs. the run. The much-improved Texans were sixth in the NFL in this department this past season.
Indianapolis Colts
Best addition: DE Latu Laiatu
Colts’ GM Chris Ballard was very busy this offseason securing the services of nine of his 13 unrestricted free agents. The team also gave wide receiver Michael Pittman a new three-year, $70 million contract.
This analysis courtesy of NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. “Concerns surrounding his neck injury (while at Washington) will certainly come into play when he gets to medical exams, but his durability and play at UCLA are certainly promising. Everything about Latu’s skill set and production is translatable to the NFL, and he could become a Pro Bowler as a 3-4 outside linebacker with a heavy influence on the game.”
Biggest loss: RB Zack Moss
There's no doubt that the Indianapolis Colts have had their share of talented running backs in recent seasons. From Marlon Mack to Jonathan Taylor. The latter led the NFL in rushing in 2021, but he’s also missed a total of 13 games the past two seasons. That has certainly hampered the Indianapolis offense.
This past season, underrated Zack Moss wound up leading Shane Steichen’s club in rushing with a career-best 794 yards, 53 yards more than Taylor (741). The former also finished 2023 with personal bests in carries (183), receptions (27), scrimmage yards (986) and TDs (7). Moss inked a deal with the Bengals.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Best addition: WR Brian Thomas Jr.
What a difference back-to-back stretch runs make. Doug Pederson’s team opened 2023 with a strong 8-3 record, then went on to drop five of the final six games and missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record. A year earlier, the Jaguars won their final five contests after a 4-8 start and won the AFC South with an 9-8 mark.
The team has a new-look wide receiving corps. The rival Titans give Calvin Ridley big money, and the club wound up parting ways with Zay Jones. Enter veterans Gabe Davis and Devin Duvernay, and rookie Brian Thomas Jr. His final season at LSU added up to 68 catches for 1,177 yards and 17 scores in just 13 contests.
Biggest loss: CB Darious Williams
The Jaguars were forced to make numerous salary cap moves this offseason and wound up releasing a number of players, most notably on defense. Arguably, the best of the bunch was unsung cornerback Darious Williams, who wound up re-joining the Los Angeles Rams after he was cut loose by Jacksonville.
The former undrafted free agent spent two years with the Jaguars, and started all 17 games for Doug Pederson’s squad this past season. He totaled 53 tackles and led the Jaguars in interceptions (4) and passes defensed (19). He returned one of those thefts for a touchdown, and also forced a pair of fumbles.
Tennessee Titans
Best addition: WR Calvin Ridley
Last season, rookie quarterback Will Levis showed off his powerful arm on more than one occasion. He wound up playing in 9 games (all starts). He threw for 1,808 yards and eight scores (4 interceptions). Keep in mind that only three teams in the league averaged fewer passing yards than the Titans this past season.
Which brings us to the addition of wideout Calvin Ridley, who caught 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns in 17 starts for the rival Jaguars. He joins former Jacksonville passing game coordinator Nick Holz, the Titans’ new offensive coordinator. Tennessee’s passing game produced just 14 scores in 2023.
Biggest loss: RB Derrick Henry
What can you say about the third-leading rusher in the history of the franchise? It seemed inevitable that Derek eight-year pro Derrick Henry was moving on, and he joined the team that not only finished with the best record in the league this past season, the Baltimore Ravens led the NFL in rushing yards…again.
To offset the loss of the two-time NFL rushing champion, Tennessee inked a deal with versatile former Cowboys’ runner Tony Pollard. He’s more of a receiving threat than Henry, and given the team’s other moves on offense in terms of wideout, new head coach Brian Callah is looking to open things up this year.