Jaguars' AFC South Rivals Could Define 2024 Offseason

The 2023 season showed the AFC South is far from the laughing stock it once was.

After years of the AFC South consistently fielding, at most, one potential contender at a time, the division became much more competitive in 2023.

Three teams won at least nine games and had a chance to make the playoffs entering Week 18. The only team to not finish with a working record were the Tennessee Titans.

And it is fair to think that this isn't the last time the AFC South flexes its muscles as a division. Entering the 2024 offseason, the division has three teams that could figure to be major players in free-agency: the Titans, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Houston Texans.

Each of the three teams was ranked in the top five by PFF in their ranking of teams best set up for the future entering free agency. In short, which teams can be the most aggressive this March. The Texans ranked No. 1, while the Titans and Colts ranked No. 3 and No. 4 respectively.

"The Texans rank sixth in salary cap space heading into the offseason, per Over the Cap, but what elevates them to first on this list is their current foundation. The team is already set up well for success over the next few years, led by quarterback C.J. Stroud, who ranked 13th in the NFL with an 83.1 PFF grade this past season,"

PFF said.

"With Stroud only one year into his rookie deal, the Texans have a couple of offseasons before they need to worry about an expensive quarterback contract. They can be aggressive and pursue a dominant interior defender, such as the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Chris Jones or the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Madubuike, to pair with standout edge defender Will Anderson Jr."

"Will Levis appears entrenched as the Titans' starting quarterback in 2024, and while it will be on him to establish himself as the franchise quarterback next season, it does mean that the team can use cap space to build around him, particularly on the offensive line,"

PFF said.

"After fielding one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL in 2023, the Titans have the resources to make multiple additions to the unit. Guard Kevin Dotson enjoyed a career year with the Los Angeles Rams, while Michael Onwenu of the New England Patriots would bring experience at tackle and guard and has earned a PFF grade of 70.0 or better in each of the past three seasons."

"The Colts don’t have quite as much cap room as the Titans, but given where quarterback Anthony Richardson was selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, they will be confident that they have the position figured out for the foreseeable future,"

PFF said.

"Perhaps they will look to make a splash on defense and add an impact defender like cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who earned a 71.1 PFF grade with the Kansas City Chiefs this past regular season. But the biggest advantage of having so much cap room is that they can place the franchise tag on wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. as they look to keep him around long term."

In short, the Jaguars are going to need to be prepared for all three teams to retool and be potentially even better in 2024 than they were this past season. Considering the Jaguars finished a disappointing 9-8 and second in the AFC South, they will need to find a way to keep pace.

"First of all, you want to be against the best. You want to compete in the best division because if you're going to be in the best division and you can win that division, you've got a great chance to go into the next round of the playoffs and win a lot of football games and be the last one standing and that's the goal," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said last month.

"So, you can't ever shy away from competition, they've done an excellent job there, Indianapolis has done an excellent job, Tennessee's going to be fine. This division is better than people gave it credit for being, and I think you can sense how quickly it turned. A year ago, we were in the same position Houston was in this year. Almost storybook endings for both organizations. Both of them won the last game, back-to-back years to put themselves in the playoffs and win the division. I like the fact that this division's competitive, you don't want it any other way. That's why you're in this business. So, let's roll out the ball, let's go to work and let's see where we are at, at the end of this next year.”