2014 AFC South Training Camp Preview-
The AFC South has been historically dominated by the Indianapolis Colts throughout the 2000’s. The first six seasons that the AFC South existed, the Colts won five of them, and six overall in the first eight years. A new decade rolled around, which meant a change atop the thrown, right? Wrong. The Colts won it again in 2010.
In 2011, the Houston Texans finally broke through and won the division, in their 10th season in the league. They repeated the next year as champs, but the Colts took it back last season, with an 11-5 record. The Colts dominated the division last year, with an average margin of victory of over 20 points in division games. As long as Andrew Luck doesn’t get run over by a bus, it shouldn’t be a contest once again for the Colts.
The Texans were not only the worst team in the division last year, with only two wins, they were the worst team in football. The Jaguars had another losing season, but they are on the up and up. The Titans amassed only seven wins, while sporting a mediocre offense and defense. Another year, another division championship for the Colts, who finished 11-5.
Top Newcomers
Hakeem Nicks, Wide Receiver, Indianapolis Colts
Can you imagine a world where Andrew Luck, has three 1,000-yard receivers at his disposal to just chuck the ball to? That’s the world we live in now, and it is scary. In 2010 and 2011, Nicks went over 1,000 yards receiving, with less than a full season played. Nicks has proven that he can be a 75 catch guy in this league, multiple times before.
The problem with Nicks is staying healthy, something he hasn’t done in his NFL career thus far. However, he fits exactly what the Colts need. A little doggy that Luck can throw up a frisbee to and have him go and snatch it. His contract is very team friendly, almost a tryout contract: One year, $3.98 Million.
Toby Gerhart, Running Back, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are in a never-ending cycle of garbage seasons will most likely continue this year. There is no doubt, that the Jags are surely on their way. The man that can be the face of their franchise, that doesn’t play the quarterback position, is Toby Gerhart. The former Stanford Cardinal, and Heisman Finalist, comes to Jacksonville on a three year, $10.75 million deal.
Gerhart has been terrific in his four-year NFL career thus far. On top of his personal skill and talent, the man sat behind one of the greatest in the game, Adrian Peterson, for four years. That has to count for something. On 276 career carries, which is around a full season, he has 1,305 career rushing yards and five touchdowns.
Shockingly, those aren’t even his most impressive stats. While wearing Viking-purple, he averaged 4.7 yards per carry, including last season where he averaged almost 8 a carry on a minimal 36 carries. Don’t discount him in the passing game either, where he averages almost eight yards per reception out of the backfield.
Top Training Camp Battles
Bishop Sankey versus Shonn Greene, Running Backs, Tennessee Titans
This one will be a fun one to watch. The rookie versus the veteran. Sankey is the early favorite to win the job, and rightly so, being the first running back taken in the 2014 draft. Greene hasn’t averaged over 4 yards a carry since 2011. In fact, he’s only averaging 4.1 yards per carry in his career, which is just putrid. His first year in Tennessee was just about the worst you could have as a running back, 3.8 yards per carry, barely over 26 yards a game on 77 carries.
Enter Bishop Sankey. Second round pick hailing from Washington University who is looking to take the starting job, after Chris Johnson left the team to go to the big apple. New Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt loves versatility, and that’s what Sankey brings. Not only did he rush for over 1,800 yards and 20 scores, he also caught 28 balls for a little over 300 yards. While the Titans have stable backs in Dexter McCluster, Leon Washington, and Jackie Battle, look for Sankey to pull away as the lead back.
Ryan Fitzpatrick versus Himself, Quarterback, Houston Texans
Here ya go, Texans fans. Your quarterback for the 2014 season is FitzMagic. In no scenario should rookie Tom Savage see playing time this year, except for maybe an injury. Usually training camp is where positional battles take place, but the Fitzpatrick has already been named the starter before camp even begins. Fitzpatrick, oddly enough, had three solid seasons in Buffalo from 2010 to 2012. In each of those seasons, he threw for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. The Houston Texans would surely take that en route to a five or six win season.
The battle here, is Fitzpatrick himself. He was awarded the starting job because of his ability to pick up on the playbook quickly, along with his steady improvement. For as smart as the Harvard grad is, he simply is just not starting material. He is a very poor man version of Brett Favre, if Favre never won anything and sucked. Fitz is a gunslinger, no questions asked. He tries to fit balls in where they shouldn’t go, which does indeed sound like a battle inside him.
All jokes aside, how Fitz handles this training camp and preseason will prove a lot about his character. He was a fan favorite on some bad Buffalo squads. But this Houston team isn’t as bad as many may think. Their defense is top-notch, and they still have Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, and second-year pro DeAndre Hopkins. But, just how good will Ryan Fitzpatrick’s rendition of Trent Dilfer be? We shall see.
Top Storylines Heading Into Training Camp
Are the Indianapolis Colts a Legitimate Super Bowl Contender?
The Colts will easily win this division, there is no question. If the Colts can improve in a couple areas, they will be a top-three team in the AFC. They can win big games, that isn’t a problem, they beat the Broncos, and Seahawks last season, while also putting a beating on the 49ers. What they do need to do, is run the ball, and run it more effectively.
In Andrew Luck’s first two NFL seasons, he has over 1,100 pass attempts, which is simply too much. The team needs Vick Ballard to stay healthy. In 2011, he had over 800 yards which the will surely take from him again.
They also need Ahmad Bradshaw to stay healthy, because he is a dynamite running back when he plays. He’s not going to break off 60-yard scores game to game, but what he is, is consistent. Over his career, he averages 4.6 yards per carry on 962 rushes.
Lastly, Trent Richardson needs to give the team something, anything. In hindsight, the Colts should’ve handed the ball off to a turtle instead, surely he could have gotten the 2.9 yards per carry that Richardson gave them.
It also wouldn’t hurt if the team played defense, either. The team ranked 26th in the league in rushing defense and 20th in total defense. New addition D’Qwell Jackson should help that out, considering he is a tackling robot. Robert Mathis’ four game suspension kills, but coach Chuck Pagano will look to Bjoern Werner and Erik Walden to step up in his place.
Jaguars Potential on Offense
How is it that a team with the worst offense, that us fans have seen, in some time is a storyline just one season after? Take into account that the team lost one of their best players in their franchise’s history in Maurice Jones-Drew. How could someone make an argument that their going to be a good offense only six months later? Well, one could start with the obvious statement, that they can’t get any worse!
Somehow, the Jaguars, yes that NFL team in Jacksonville that still exists, signed away one of the best guards in the league, from one of the best teams: Zane Beadles. They also signed the aforementioned Toby Gerhart after learning behind Adrian Peterson for the first portion of his career. The team upgraded the receiver position in a big way through the draft as well, with Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson in the second round. Oh, and by the way, they drafted some guy named Blake Bortles to play quarterback, whoever that is.
The team still has Luke Joeckel going into his second season, along with “Weapon X” Denard Robinson and Cecil Shorts on the outside. It may not be exactly this season, but we should definitely be able to see major strides in this offense. There is no excuse for them to finish with 15 points per game again.
Power Ranking the AFC South
1. Indianapolis Colts: This one is a no-brainer. The Colts went undefeated in the division last year, and a good amount of those we blowout games. The Colts made upgrades at wideout, and at linebacker to bolster their roster. As mentioned before, the Mathis suspension hurts, but no one in this division is ready to challenge the horse-shoes.
2. Houston Texans: Wow, these last three are tough to rank. If it weren’t for some dudes named J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and the rest of their defense they could be in the cellar. The development of Tom Savage will be crucial, and there is always that chance that they still trade for Ryan Mallett. The seasons that Andre Johnson and Arian Foster put out will be interesting to watch as well. Something tells me we are all sleeping on the Texans and they’re going to do something nuts…
3. Jacksonville Jaguars: Don’t fret Jag fans. They are on their way up their list. Blake Bortles is your guy. Even if he isn’t, at least he’s not Blaine Gabbert. This offense is completely revamped and is poised for extremely exciting things. The defense has questions, like their ability to get to the quarterback. This ranking isn’t to bag on them, after the Colts you can justify anyone, anywhere. They did finish third last year, too, but the record doesn't tell the whole story. They had a point differential of -202, while the Texans was only -152. Jaguars are certainly on the right path, but so are the Texans and their yellow brick road is a lot shorter than the Jags.
4. Tennessee Titans: This is a make or break year for Jake Locker. There was a point where if he skipped his senior year at Washington, he could’ve been the number one overall pick. Funny how quickly things change. Letting go of Kenny Britt was probably best for the franchise as a whole, and the team is looking for big seasons from Justin Hunter and Kendall Wright. This awful division bolsters their ranking. Uncertainty at quarterback, and a rookie running back could catapualt them into the cellar of the AFC South this season.