It wasn't that long ago when it seemed the Indianapolis Colts would be sitting on top of the AFC South for years to come. They had back-to-back undefeated seasons within the division in 2013 and 2014. But things have changed, as they haven't won the division since 2014.
@MikeWellsNFL Have the Colts done enough in the offseason to win the AFC South this year?
— Chuck B (@barrcm328) May 5, 2017
Mike Wells: Two things will play a significant factor in how the Colts do in the division this season: the health of quarterback Andrew Luck and how quickly all the pieces general manager Chris Ballard has gathered on defense come together.
Scoring won’t be a problem for the Colts as long as Luck is on the field taking the snaps. The Colts averaged 25.7 points a game, which was good enough for eighth in the NFL last season, when their quarterbacks were sacked a total of 44 times.
Ballard, who easily recognized the flaws on their old, slow and quite frankly bad defense last season, has acquired 13 defensive players through free agency and the draft since being hired in late January.
It’ll be up to coach Chuck Pagano and defensive coordinator Ted Monachino to make sure those players get up to speed as quickly as possible because the Colts, especially Pagano, aren’t in any kind of position to be starting 0-2 for the fourth straight season.
I learned my lesson last season in thinking that simply having Luck back would be good enough for the Colts to win the AFC South.
That’s not the case anymore.
The AFC South, once thought of as by far the worst division in the NFL, is getting better and more competitive. You can make an argument for each team having a chance to win the division this season.
“We’re not sure how good we can be, but we sure are looking to be playing in January,’’ owner Jim Irsay during the draft weekend. “That’s our hope and I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all.’’
The Houston Texans are the two-time defending AFC South champs and should have a healthy J.J. Watt back on defense. They have questions at quarterback, but they also had questions at that position the last two seasons and still won the division.
The Tennessee Titans are building a nice foundation around quarterback Marcus Mariota. They added receivers Corey Davis and Taywan Taylor in the first and third rounds of the draft to go with the running game of DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry. The defense also should be better with the additions of cornerback Logan Ryan, safety Johnathan Cyprien and defensive lineman Sylvester Williams to go with first-round pick Adoree Jackson.
Irsay spoke highly of the Jaguars selecting LSU running back Leonard Fournette with the No. 4 pick in the draft.
“He’s a hell of a football player,’’ Irsay said. “It’s tough to have to play against that guy. He’s a force. When you see that, you say, ‘Hey, you’d better have defensive front-seven guys that are ready to mix it up.’ This is going to be a physical guy who’s going to be running it down our throats if we don’t stop him.’’
Jacksonville also was able to sign cornerback A.J. Bouye from Houston. Now the Jaguars have Bouye and the ultra-confident Jalen Ramsey at cornerback on a defense that finished sixth in the NFL last season.
The biggest question mark surrounding the Jaguars is quarterback Blake Bortles. He’s only 11-34 as a starter.
The days of crowning the Colts -- or Texans -- division champs before the season starts are over. There won't be a clear favorite heading into training camp.