AFC South

Jacksonville Jaguars

I’m a big fan of the last two drafts by the Jags. Granted, they massively underachieved expectations last year, but they are building thing from the foundation up. Last year their first two picks were spent on brining in impact pass rushers, and this year it was spent on bringing in bookend pass blockers. This OL was not good last year, so I expect Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton to both fight for playing time right away. I think this is a very good combination of tackles as well, seeing as Monroe is a prototypical LT and Britton fits very well on the right side in the mold of a young John Tait. I cannot stress enough the importance of the OL and DL in continued success for a team, and these last two drafts have set the Jags up nicely to compete for some time now. The rest of the draft was a mixed bag though. Terrance Knighton out of Temple is a good run stuffing DT, which this defense needed, but I think he would have been available much later than the third. Same goes for William and Mary CB Derek Cox. Yes, it was a position of need for this team, but this seemed like a reach to me. Jacksonville got back on track by picking up Mike Thomas in the 4th. I loved Thomas tenacity and route running skills. Yes, he’s undersized and will probably have to play strictly in the slot due to this, but he can be a prolific slot receiver in the NFL. Plus he has the ability to return punts and kicks. With so many recent misses at the WR position via the draft for this team, I actually think they finally hit on one. Tiquan Underwood was underrated as a WR as well, and was definitely worth a shot in the 7th. My only concern is he is a lot like Thomas, so I only see the one making the team. Rashad Jennings of Liberty slipped a lot further than I thought. He was one of the very few impressive big backs in the draft, so I thought someone would have taken him for short yardage purposes sooner than the 7th. But their loss is Jacksonville’s gain and I think he will make the team. I don’t think he will ever be more than a goal line and short yardage back though, as his talent as a runner is not as impressive as his physical numbers would indicate. Overall, not a bad draft for the Jag. I would full expect them to now work hard in the next draft on WR or CB.

Indianapolis Colts

With the love fest I gave to the AFC East front office guys, I need to also pay my respects to one of the long time great personnel men in Bill Polian. He has kept the Colts in the playoffs for almost an entire decade, all the while being hamstrung by the overwhelming cap space eaten up by all of the talent on this offense. The Colts always do a great job of filling needs via the draft, developing the player, then having a back up plan once that player gets to a point where his contract is up and they cannot afford him anymore. I think even I was surprised to see the Colts take a running back in the first round, but Donald Brown in a fantastic fit for this offense. He is a great one cut runner, which is critical in a zone blocking run offense, and he has very good hands catching the ball out of the backfield. This pick screams value over need, which I cannot argue with. New head coach Jim Caldwell, even though he was previously the defensive coordinator, wants to change the defensive line around and get a bit bigger up the middle. USC DT Fili Moala is a very good undertackle prospect, and worthy of the second round pick. Fourth rounder Terrance Taylor of Michigan is the beefy run stopper that this defense has needed, and he should see a good amount of playing time on running downs. The Colts also picked a QB who I thought looked great last year, and struggled in his senior year in Purdue’s Curtis Painter. If Indy can pull out the junior year Painter, I think the Colts may have found the long term back up and potential replacement for Manning once he decides to hang it up. It’s a great pick for a 6th rounder.

Tennessee Titans

Last year’s draft surprised me last year, as Tennessee made some slight reaches. Most thought the Titans were stupid for getting yet another running back in the first round in Chris Johnson, but he proved all of the ‘experts’ wrong. The Titans have never been known for their strength at the WR position, and they have not done much to really address this. That changed this year with first round pick Kenny Britt of Rutgers. I don’t think Britt will contribute right away as he needs to refine his route running and catching with his hands. What he can do is provide a physical presence for blocking in the run game, and he can jump so I expect a lot of red zone jump balls to be thrown his way. Auburn DT Sen’Derrick Marks will fit right into the defensive tackle rotation and provides them with a good interior pass rush. Getting Jared Cook in the third round was straight up larceny. I was one of the few who weren’t as high on Cook due to the fact that he is really only a pass catcher at this point in his career. Having said that though, he was easily the best pass catching TE in the entire draft and should have gone in the second round. The Titans love to utilize the TE, so I expect Cook to get into the line up and see some solid playing time. Fellow third rounder Ryan Mouton of Hawaii is a very physical corner, which is exactly the type of player this defense requires. In what I felt was their best pick, the Titans got one of my absolute favorite LBs in Southern Miss’s Gerald McRath. McRath played ILB in college, but I think he’s versatile and fast enough to play any of the three LB positions. I think that he will eventually be a top end starting LB within the next three years. The fact that Javon Ringer fell to the 5th round was a bit of a surprise, but the bigger surprise is that Tennessee picked him. They already have three running backs that were 3rd round picks or above (Johnson, LenDale White, and Chris Henry), so I have no idea why they went for Ringer. I really like Ringer, even though I understand team’s hesitancy in picking him due to the heavy amount of carries and wear his legs took in college. Maybe this signals the end for White, who will be a free agent after this season. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the Titans draft. They are a well coached team, and they have added some essential pieces in this draft to stay relevant for the next few years.

Houston Texans

The Texans seem to be the chic pick for the past two years as the team that will surprise. I don’t think you can call them a surprise anymore. The Texans have done a great job in the draft over the past 4-5 years, and I think they will start to really push to the front of the line in the NFC South. Mario Williams is a bona fide superstar at DE, and teams game plan against him. The hard part of that is that the Texans have not had a presence on the other side of Williams to make teams pay for doubling him up. Their first two picks in the draft will make teams pay for running away from Williams. Brian Cushing is a great, well rounded SLB. He can rush the passer, he can drop into coverage, and he attacks the line to set the edge against the run. Playing next to a Pro Bowl middle linebacker in Demeco Ryans will only make Cushing that much more effective. The versatile DE/TE/OLB Connor Barwin of Cincinnati was a great value pick in the second round, and he can provide the companion pass rush to Williams that I think will help him push for defensive player of the year honors. Barwin will see a lot of single team blocks, but he’s also going to need some coaching on proper technique seeing as he’s only played DE for one season. Antoine Caldwell was an All American OC at Alabama, and he’s the tough inside run blocking presence this OL is still lacking. I think Caldwell will start right away. I was surprised to see the Texans go with back to back TE’s, but both are different types of players. Anthony Hill of NC State is a blocking TE who will compliment Pro Bowl TE Owen Daniels. James Casey of Rice is a lot like Daniels and I could see both on the field at the same time to help exploit matchups. Rice is versatile and is a good enough athlete to play an H-back role, a slot receiver role, and a traditional inline TE role as well. He was an unreal value in the 5th. This is a draft class that I see paying big dividends right away for Houston, and I expect them to take the next step this season and start to push for a playoff spot.