8 in 8: AFC South

by Rich

Today's edition of the Roost's NFL preview series takes a look at the AFC South.

1. Indianapolis Colts

The defending Super Bowl champs are the obvious favorites in their division, but they also face some serious questions: Can Joseph Addai avoid the sophomore slump and carry the load as a full-time feature back? Will second-rounder Tony Ugoh be up to the task of protecting Peyton Manning's blind side? Can you name anyone on the Colts defense other than Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders? In the end, it simply doesn't matter. Peyton & Co will cut that meat all the way to another division title.

2. Jacksonville Jaguars

I had a hard time picking this team to finish second in the division, mainly because their coaching staff doesn't seem to have much of an idea what they're doing. "Hey, let's start one quarterback all 4 preseason games, then release him the week before the season starts and just assume that the other guy will be able to step in with no problems, despite not getting a single rep against a first-team defense or with the first-team offense all preseason." Personally, that type of logic ranks right between "Let's get drunk and get tattoos" and "Only $7 million for Jeff Weaver? What a deal!" on my list of bad decisions. On the other hand, that defense is still plenty scary, especially up front, and MoJo Drew should keep them in games and fantasy owners drooling, so they should hold their own.

3. Tennessee Titans

On the plus side, the Titans have Vince Young, who is already one of the most exciting young QBs in the league. Unfortunately, that's about the only positive I can really think of. Pacman Jones was their best defensive player, and we all know how that's working out for them. If that's not enough, Vince has the Madden curse to contend with in addition to the usual "sophomore slump." Oh yeah, and I couldn't name a single one of their recievers. ...

Wow. I just looked it up, and uh...Eric Moulds is starting. Well, good luck with that one, Nashville.

4. Houston Texans

Poor Andre Johnson. On any other team, he'd be a Pro-Bowler and a household name. Maybe the Matt Schaub Experiment will work out, and the Texans will finally emerge from the cellar of the AFC. Or more likely, their front office will spend the entire season figuring out the mechanics of time travel so that they can go back and take a mulligan on Mario Williams.