Best of the AFC South: QB, draft pick, fans and more

The season is creeping closer. Before we know it, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game (Aug. 3) will be here. As we speed toward the start of the 2023 season, let's examine the best of the AFC South.

BEST QB | Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars: This was an easy decision to make when the only other options are 35-year-old Ryan Tannehill and two rookie QBs. Lawrence had a breakout season last year, throwing for 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions and leading Jacksonville to the playoffs. 

Among QBs to start 10 or more games in 2022, Lawrence ranked in the top 10 in yards passing, touchdown passes and passer rating (95.2), and he was one of just four QBs with 25 or more touchdowns and single-digit interceptions.

BEST COACH | Mike Vrabel, Titans: This was an easy decision as well given DeMeco Ryans (Texans)  and Shane Steichen (Colts) have yet to coach a game. Sure, Jaguars HC Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, but he only lasted three more seasons after that before landing in Jacksonville and didn’t win double-digit games in any of them.

Vrabel had four winning seasons in his first five years with the Titans. He also guided the team to three of its four playoff appearances since 2009, including its second AFC Championship Game and its first two division titles since 2008 — all without a franchise quarterback. Vrabel’s .585 win percentage is also the best of any coach in the Titans era. 

BEST 2023 FREE-AGENT SIGNING | Dalton Schultz, TE, Texans: With rookie C.J. Stroud likely the Week 1 starting QB, adding a tight end of Schultz’s caliber was a coup for Houston. At wide receiver, Nico Collins is unproven, Robert Woods is almost 32 and just one year removed from an ACL injury and John Metchie hasn’t played in over a calendar year. The other wideouts — Tank Dell and Xavier Hutchinson — are rookies learning a new offensive system.

Schultz had 89 or more targets in each of the past three seasons in Dallas, and he topped 55 receptions and 550 yards receiving each of those years. He also has 17 touchdown receptions over the past three seasons. He’s a big target (6-foot-5, 244 pounds) for Stroud and could be his go-to target early on while the QB finds a rhythm with his receivers. 

BEST 2023 DRAFT PICK | Will Anderson, DE, Texans: Colts QB Anthony Richardson has a case for being the pick here, but Anderson was regarded by many scouts as the best player in the draft class, and Houston got him at pick No. 3. Projecting college edge-rushers to the NFL can sometimes be a fool’s errand, but for every Courtney Brown (bust for Browns), there’s a Myles Garrett (star for Browns), and Anderson has the tools to turn out more like the latter.

It was no secret Ryans, who played linebacker himself and spent last season as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco, wanted a Pro Bowl-caliber defensive player to build around, but the Texans also desperately needed a franchise quarterback. Somehow, they managed to get both. With Ryans’ defensive prowess and Anderson’s raw skills, a double-digit sack rookie season doesn’t seem out of the question.

BEST FANS | Indianapolis Colts: An argument can be made that the AFC South has one of, if not the worst, set of fan bases in the NFL. But some group must be chosen, so why not the Colts? Their fans have a reputation for being a bit pretentious (perhaps the byproduct of dominating a terrible division for so long), but Lucas Oil Stadium is quite loud on game days and plenty of their fans are actually invested in the team. Additionally, Indianapolis has the second-most engaged fan base on social media, per Bleacher Nation.