AFC South Pre-Draft Special
What’s up Scout Army?!?!
I know what you’re thinking, “What the hell is The Daily Armory doing up this early in the year?’ Well friends I will tell you. The Armory is expanding its reach into more of the seasonal game, which was tested out last summer with articles focusing on individual teams and where players line up for our fantasy football drafts. Since I get bored easily, I thought it might be worthwhile to get started even earlier and hit the ground running before the annual NFL draft. What this means is that I have started the process of building depth charts for each team with both offensive and defensive players which you will find included right here. All teams have been updated with free agent moves as of March 29th, 2018. These will be updated weekly through the season and will be posted at the end of every month (Early May for rookie insertion post draft). I will also be attending this year’s draft in Arlington, TX so I can be more immersed in the pageantry and frankly……I need what amounts to a vacation and there’s nothing I would like more than to work on The Daily Armory while enjoying the warmer temps. Each Sunday in April will find a new Armory article focusing on draft prospects that mean the most to us. Of course, I mean running backs, wide receivers, quarterbacks and tight ends. Well, I’ve rambled on enough. Let’s get started…….
What I’ve got for everyone is a quick overview of each team with a recap of 2017 and more importantly, where I’m seeing deficiencies on the offensive and defensive sides of the football. What I also have is some DVOA numbers (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) to share from footballoutsiders.com. It’s my favorite site for looking at strengths and weaknesses of an offense and defense and using the data to help make weekly decisions in dfs. DVOA is also used for offenses as well and helps determine its true authenticity. The site also uses a weighted DVOA which adjusts weekly so that earlier matchups become less important and helps to determine that offense or defense’s true rank. I will show these values as such……
Offensive Rank/Weighted O Rank/Rush O Rank/Pass O Rank
Defensive-Rank/Weighted D Rank/Rush D Rank/Pass D Rank
I will also include offensive and defensive line ranks which will look like this….
OL Rush Rank/OL Pass Rank
DL Rush Rank/DL Pass Rank
Confused? It should make sense in the end. Like I said earlier, check out the site. It’s very good at explaining the numbers in full.
Houston Texans
HC: Bill O’Brien (4-12)
Does anyone remember how much fun Deshaun Watson was last season? It seems like a lifetime ago when everyone was interested in this team, especially for fantasy purposes. We still had DeAndre Hopkins of course, but this team as a whole was trash. The team will be banking on a healthy JJ Watt again. Will he make it through unscathed? Time will tell. There is a few holes to fill, primarily on the offensive side of the ball.
Offense:
OC: Bill O’Brien
25/30/21/24
20/30
Like I said before, a few holes to fill and that comes primarily along the offensive line where they are extremely weak. They could also use a true number two wideout where they could move Will Fuller into a better spot out of the slot. Why are people afraid to move the high flyer into that role? So many more options. Tight end is incredibly weak and unless they see something special that I don’t see in Griffin and Anderson they would be better off upgrading the position. They may want to take another look at the running back position just in case they aren’t completely sold on Foreman or feel Miller may lose a step this season.
NEEDS: OL, WR, TE, RB
Defense:
DC: Romeo Crennel (NEW)
23/31/12/25
8/21
Don’t be fooled folks this team is talented on defense. This is especially true after the acquisitions of Tyrann Mathieu and Asron Colvin on the back end of the defense. They could use another top end cornerback to either replace Kareem Jackson or at least push him for the starting job on the outside. The defensive line and linebacking crew are solid outside of Joel Heath who is the definitive weak spot at defensive end. Outside of that they just need to build depth if they find a talent that could be a solid backup or future starter.
NEEDS: CB, DE
Indianapolis Colts
HC: Frank Reich (NEW) (4-12)
To steal a line from the late, great Keith Jackson, “Whoa Nelly!”. This team sucked last season. Without their franchise quarterback the Colts had absolutely no chance of succeeding. It all started with the smokescreen that was Andrew Luck’s health and ended in the firing of Coach Chuck Pagano. The team didn’t do him any favors with previous drafts and talent acquisitions through free agency. We’re banking on them finally pulling their heads out of their own asses to help fix this mess.
Offense:
OC: Nick Sirianni (NEW)
29/27/24/30
18/32
Hopefully, Andrew Luck is truly back although I will say it would be interesting if they spent and earlier pick on a quarterback. It would signal something is still wrong or at least put everyone on notice that they are indeed worried about Luck long term. The Colts have to finally address the offensive line issues. How bad is it? Anthony Castanzo at left tackle is the only one who should be allowed to keep a starting job. The Colts did acquire Ryan Grant from the Redskins, but could still use another wide receiver in case they are not sold on Chestor Rogers as their number three wideout. As much as I do like Marlon Mack I would love to see them take a high end running back.
NEEDS: OL, OL, OL, WR, RB
Defense:
DC: Matt Eberflus (NEW)
27/23/10/32
17/31
The Indianapolis defense is really struggling at two positions. Linebacker, primarily both of the middle linebacker spots are the weakest spots on the entire defense. Also, they need cornerbacks in the worst way. The outside cornerbacks are fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to upgrade. The weakest cornerback spot is at the slot cornerback spot. So either they can draft someone for the slot or draft someone for the outside and move one of the current cornerbacks into the slot if they get a talented enough player to start day one.
NEEDS: MLB, CB
Jacksonville Jaguars
HC: Doug Marrone (10-6)
The trendy team of 2017 didn’t disappoint as they made it all the way to the AFC Championship game, eventually losing to the Patriots. They achieved that feat even with Blake Bortles at QB and no Allen Robinson at WR because of an early season ending injury. Behind a good offensive line and solid, but not great effort by rookie Leonard Fournette the Jags were able to have a competent offense. That’s not to say that the incredibly talented defense didn’t play a part in it. They truly were monsters!
Offense:
OC: Nathaniel Hackett
16/19/12/15
13/5
The Jaguars are going back to the well with Bortles saving themselves a ton of money by not going after Kirk Cousins. He needs to show improvement this year if they are going to get over the hump and make it to the Super Bowl. They’re going to have to do it with a mediocre wide receiving core unless they go after one in the draft. Donte’ Moncrief is not the answer to the loss of Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson. They could also use some help along the offensive line. At least, in high end back ups if not true starters at guard or tackle. Keep the Fournette train rolling.
NEEDS: WR, G, T
Defense:
DC: Todd Wash
1/4/26/21
13/5
The strongest side of the ball and for good reason. The amount of talent they’ve acquired over the years is paying off in spades. They could use another cornerback to put in the slot. I know they signed DJ Hayden, but he is not the replacement answer for Aaron Colvin. Their focus should be on improving the offense, but if the right player falls they will keep building their strength.
NEEDS: CB
Tennessee Titans
HC: Mike Vrabel (NEW) (9-7)
The Titans made the postseason, winning their Wild Card matchup against the Chiefs and what was their reward? PINK SLIPS!! I never wish for anyone to lose their jobs, but the Titans would never make the Super Bowl with Mike Mularkey as Head Coach. We will see if they will push further into the playoffs with an unproven commodity at the helm. I guess we will see.
Offense:
OC: Matt LaFleur (NEW)
18/21/8/20
23/13
As much as Derrick Henry truthers hate it, the signing of Dion Lewis was a good idea. There is room for both players and they truly still want to run the ball as much as possible. The Titans are pretty solid along the offensive line, but where they are weak is at wide receiver. Outside of Rishard Matthews and Corey Davis the rest of the wide receivers lack upside. They need a nice complement out of the slot and there are plenty of options that don’t require high end draft picks.
Defense:
DC: Dean Pees (NEW)
21/18/7/24
14/12
The defense was solid in 2017. This was more so in the run defense than the pass defense Unless they believe that Cyprien can bounce back this year they need to look at possible safety options. Another weak spot would be the linebacking core, especially at the middle linebacker spot where they could grab a high end starter. Drafting for depth in the same linebacking corp isn’t a bad idea either as they are fairly thin. Outside from those two spots they are just fine.
NEEDS: MLB, S, OLB
As always, any questions or comments leave them here or reach me on Twitter @roydawg_13
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