1. Jacksonville Jaguars

They made an amazing late season push to clinch the division last year. It’s theirs to lose going into 2023.

2. Houston Texans

The future looks extremely bright for the Texans and it starts with the hiring of DeMeco Ryans as their head coach.

3. Tennessee Titans

If anyone knows what the Titans are doing, you might want to let them know because I don’t think they know what they are doing either.

4. Indianapolis Colts

Time will tell if Anthony Richardson will be the franchise quarterback they need him to be, but they’ve all but burned the bridge with RB Jonathan Taylor who is an important safety net for the QB.

Head Coach: Doug Pederson

Key Position: Defense

They caused a fair amount of turnovers last year. They tied for 7th in turnover differential (+7) and tied for 12th in interceptions (14). In order to take that next step they have to do more and it will start up front with the pass rush which netted only 35 sacks last season. That was tied for 25th in the league. Josh Allen led the team with 7 sacks, but is talented enough to get well over double digits. The same goes for former first overall pick Travon Walker who needs to get way more than 3.5 sacks from his rookie year.

Key Acquisitions: RB D’Ernest Johnson (Cleveland Browns), WR Calvin Ridley (Atlanta Falcons)

Key Rookies: OT Anton Harrison, TE Brenton Strange, RB Tank Bigsby, DE Tyler Lacy

Head Coach: DeMeco Ryans (San Francisco 49ers)

Key Position: Everything

It can’t be overstated how much of an impact hiring DeMeco Ryans as head coach has been on the psyche of this franchise. Then they went all in going after their quarterback of the future and a defensive stalwart in the same draft for back-to-back picks. QB C.J. Stroud takes over the reigns on offense and DE Will Anderson Jr. is expected to make an immediate impact for the 30th ranked defense last season.

Key Acquisitions: CB Shaquill Griffin (Jacksonville Jaguars), OL George Fant (NY Jets), OL Josh Jones (Arizona Cardinals), LB Cory Littleton (Carolina Panthers), OL Shaq Mason (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), LB Denzel Perryman (Las Vegas Raiders), DT Sheldon Rankins (NY Jets), DT Hassan Ridgeway (San Francisco 49ers), TE Dalton Schultz (Dallas Cowboys), RB Devin Singletary (Buffalo Bills), DB Jimmie Ward (San Francisco 49ers), WR Robert Woods (Tennessee Titans)

Key Rookies: QB C.J. Stroud, DE Will Anderson Jr., OL Juice Scruggs, WR Tank Dell, DE Dylan Horton, LB Henry To’oTo’o, OL Jarrett Patterson

Head Coach: Mike Vrabel

Key Position: Quarterback

This is a clearly unsettled position now. Ryan Tannehill has been regressing rapidly. To be fair, trading away his favorite target in WR A.J. Brown last offseason was not the right move in the moment nor for the future. Last years rookie quarterback Malik Willis is raw and clearly wasn’t ready to be thrust into the position. With that they couldn’t pass on drafting Will Levis in the second round. Someone from this trio must excel if the Titans want to play late into January.

Key Acquisitions: LB Azeez Al-Shaair (San Francisco 49ers), OL Daniel Brunskill (San Francisco 49ers), OT Andre Dillard (Philadelphia Eagles), WR DeAndre Hopkins (Arizona Cardinals), OL Chris Hubbard (Cleveland Browns), DE/LB Arden Key (Jacksonville Jaguars), CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), TE Trevon Wesco (Chicago Bears)

Key Rookies: OL Pete Skoronski, QB Will Levis, RB Tyjae Spears

Head Coach: Shane Steichen (Philadelphia Eagles)

Key Position: Everything

Last year was an unmitigated disaster. From injuries to impact players, to poor quarterback play, combined with an offensive line suddenly regressing from which they were considered a strength. This season isn’t off to a great start as RB Jonathan Taylor is going through a very public contract dispute and has an injured ankle on top of it. They drafted a high upside quarterback in Anthony Richardson with the 4th overall pick. It could benefit them with the offensive line now becoming a weakness, but he didn’t have a lot of playing time in college and he may have to do what Justin Fields did last year for the Bears and that’s run for his life.

Key Acquisitions: DL Taven Bryan (Cleveland Browns), DE Samson Ebukam (San Francisco 49ers), WR Isaiah McKenzie (Buffalo Bills), QB Gardner Minshew (Philadelphia Eagles)

Key Rookies: QB Anthony Richardson, CB JuJu Brents, WR Josh Downs, OT Blake Freeland