I'm flying out to Minnesota next week and I'll be away from my computer — help me convince Erica to cover for me on the "Project Runway" recap front — and I REALLY want to finish my NFL preseason picks before I go. Also, I realized that my flight leaves at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning, which means I'll have little if any time tonight and NO TIME to work on this tomorrow. What can I say? I'm a little obsessive compulsive and it would bug the hell out of me if I previewed seven out of eight divisions and just left that last division dangling there.
Anyway, let me stop blabbing and let's get right to this:
AFC SOUTH
1. Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
2. Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6)
3. Houston Texans (9-7)
4. Tennessee Titans (6-10)
Indianapolis Colts: Earlier in the NFL preseason preview season, I wrote that the Chargers had supplanted the Colts as the second best team in the conference (mostly because SD OWNS Indy whenever they play head to head), but I still think Indianapolis has one more strong year atop their division (the toughest outside of the NFC East) with this core group of players.
Think about it. Last year the Colts lost one of their best receivers (Marvin Harrison) and one of their best defensive players (Dwight Freeney) and still managed to end up winning the AFC South, which didn't have a team with a losing record last year. On the other hand, Harrison's injury had the side effect of making fellow WR Reggie Wayne a superstar and giving valuable playing time to WR Anthony Gonzalez (who's got a lot of potential).
The Colts hope Harrison and Freeney can stay healthy the entire year (which has been an issue for Freeney) and, if they do, the team should be strong enough to win their division for the 16th year in a row (ok, it hasn't been quite that long, it just feels that way). I know the chic pick is to have the Jags overtake the Colts, but that's been the sexy pick for, like, three years in a row now — I'll believe it when it actually happens.
(Notice I didn't mention to QB Peyton Manning's (pictured, left) injury which has led him to miss pretty much the entire preseason. That guy needs the preseason about as much as the Bucs need another quarterback.)
Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars continue to be the steady football team that runs the ball (with two Pro Bowl-caliber talents like Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor), plays defense and, most importantly wins games.
Notice I left out "are particularly interesting" out of the things the Jaguars do. Then again, WR Matt Jones' (pictured, right) cocaine arrest was pretty interesting, and I'm not really sure that's the kind of attention the Jaguars want. I still don't see too many big time weapons in the Jags passing game, though the team is probably hoping WR Reggie Williams steps up to be that guy for QB David Garrard (probably more confident than ever this year.)
The team had a breakthrough of sorts last season, winning a playoff game on the road and partially hanging in with the Pats before losing. The main problem during the Pats loss is that Tom Brady had all day to throw and ended up going 26 for 28. To help remedy that (and to help put pressure on fellow-division QB Peyton Manning), the Jags upgraded their pass rush by drafting (and kinda reaching for) defensive end Derrick Harvey out Florida. They also picked up an additional DE (Quentin Groves) in the second round.
I'm not sure if two rookies are going to be the answer to one of the team's few weaknesses, and I'm also not a fan of the fact that they traded away DT Marcus Stroud (who, along with John Henderson helped make the Jags run defense one of the best in the league). It just feels like the team took two steps forward, and two steps back this offseason.
Houston Texans: I've been saving it for last and here it is — my official sleeper team for the 2008 season. (Debate amongst yourselves whether a team that finished 8-8 the year before can be considered a sleeper).
At least I'm calling them a sleeper because I'm not really hearing too many people talk about them as a serious playoff contender.
The Texans are returning pretty much everyone from the cast of their first non-losing season. The team didn't suffer any major losses and, conversely, didn't make any major acquisitions (though
they DID draft RB Steve Slaton in the first round to help upgrade their hot mess of a running game).The task will be staying healthy. Still, even if QB Matt Schaub (9 TD, 9 INT goes down again, the Texans figure to be in good hands with Sage Rosenfels (15 TD, 12 INT). Who'd a thunk it? That guy sounds like a made up football player that comes into the league after you've done a few seasons on Franchise mode in Madden. The more important issue will be keeping star (and oft-injured) receiver Andre Johnson (pictured, left) healthy.
The defense (with talented young players like DE Mario Williams and LB DeMeco Ryans) should be solid and, I'm predicting, will lead the team to its first ever playoff appearance.
Tennessee Titans: Can Vince Young (pictured, right) get a little help?
As another year passes it's getting harder and harder to remember Vince Young as the quarterback that almost singlehandedly beat USC in the BCS title game a few years ago (the best college football title game ever, by the way).
It's not really his fault though. The Titans seem downright stubborn in their refusal to give the guy a decent wide receiver. Then again, they did bring in appeared-to-be-washed-up TE Alge Crumpler (escaping from the Falcons), but Crumpler has allegedly looked fantastic in camp. Still, Vince Young's 1 talent probably shouldn't be a tight end who's firmly in the latter stages of his career.
Still, the defense will once again be solid (the Titans have one of the league's best defensive lines) and they actually have one of the best coaches in the league in Jeff Fisher. Those two things will always prevent this team from going completely in the tank.
1 comment:
you're a dork
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