Welcome back to the fourth part and halfway point of our look at Divisional-based teams and squads in the NFL.

We have already covered the AFC West, AFC North and AFC East in our first three posts in the series.

Now we are turning our attention to the less-fancied AFC South.

As it is the pre-season in the NFL and training camps get underway in earnest, it is a nice time to indulge in a bit of whimsy. Even so, it would be hugely interesting to see what odds bet365 Sport would offer on the AFC South squad competing against other divisional squads.

My gut feeling is that they’d be somewhat longer odds than other divisions!

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Outliend below are the  four teams eligible to provide squad members for our theoretical AFC South divisional squad (53) and team (26).

AFC South

• Houston Texans
• Indianapolis Colts
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Tennessee Titans

A Recap of the Rules For The Squad Selection

• All players must be from one of the four teams in the division stated.
• All squads will be comprised of the same number of players (53).
• All squads will feature the same number of players at each position.
• In addition to the 53 squad players, a starting Offense (11) , Defense (11) and Special Teams (4) will be picked.
• Finally the best head coach selected from one of the four teams will be picked to serve as coach.  

Each squad will comprise of the following 53 players.

Offense (24 players)

• Quarterback – 3
• Running Back – 2
• Full Back – 1
• Wide Receiver – 6
• Tight End – 2
• Left Tackle – 2
• Left Guard – 2
• Center – 2
• Right Guard – 2
• Right Tackle – 2

Defense (25 players)

• Defensive Tackle – 4
• Defensive Ends – 5
• Inside Linebacker – 2
• Outside Linebacker / Edge Rusher – 4
• Strong Safety – 2
• Free Safety – 2
• Cornerbacks – 6

Special Teams (4 players)

• Kicker – 1
• Punter – 1
• Specialist Punt/Kick Off Returner – 1
• Long Snapper – 1

Now that we know what positions we need to fill for our 53-man AFC South squad roster, let’s outline the 53-players that made it into the squad.

AFC South – Squad Selection

AFC South Squad Gradings

Offense

• Quarterbacks – C+
• Running/Full Backs –  A+
• Wide Receivers – B-
• Tight Ends – B-
• Offensive Line – A-
• Overall Offense – B

Defense

• Defensive Line – A-
• Edge Rushers – B-
• Linebackers – B
• Safeties – A-
• Corners – B-

Special Teams

• Kicker – B
• Punter – A
• Kick Returner – A-
• Long Snapper – B

Team Intangibles

• Experience – B-
• Pace – B
• Physicality – A
• Mental Toughness – B-
• HC Effectiveness – B+

AFC South Starters

AFC South Starting XI Analysis

• Houston Texans – 8 starters
• Indianapolis Colts – 7 starters
• Jacksonville Jaguars – 5 starters
• Tennessee Titans – 6 starters

Strengths

• Definitely the best rushing attack out of all Divisional representative teams.
• One of the strongest offensive lines.
• Solid at defensive line and linebacker.
• Solid safeties.
• One of the best punters in the NFL
• An extremely physical squad & team that can overpower opponents

Weaknesses

• Quarterback options are very thin.
• Wide receiver and Tight End corps is also lacking any real blue chip talent.
• Cornerbacks not the best.
• A lack of quality in this division means NFL rookies make it into the squad.

Key Player – Offense

• Derrick Henry (Titans) /Jonathan Taylor (Colts) RB – I don’t see these as 1-2 running backs but more 1-1. With very little in the way of passing offense likely to be available it is the power of these two RBs and help from the offensive line which would power the AFC South team.

Key Player – Defense

• DeForest Buckner (Colts) DT – The powerful defensive tackle would set the mode for this powerful front line. In a 4-3 scheme, the AFC South would be solid. In a 3-4, they may be even more powerful with Buckner, Simmons and Will Anderson Jr.

Conclusion

This is nowhere near as strong a squad as we have seen in the other AFC Divisions and as such, the AFC South would probably be ranked bottom of the four squads we have assembled here. However, even so, they still have the best rush offense, one of the best offensive lines and huge talent on the defensive line and at linebacker. Apart from a couple of players though, this squad lacks the star quality of others and the depth throughout the squad is poor.

Overall Team Rating – B-

It’s a passing league now in the NFL and while the AFC South squad could be set up to play some old-school football, they would struggle against some of the great passing squads with that secondary.

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