Up next on This Given Sunday’s tour around the NFL by division looking at free agency is the AFC South. Probably the least-accomplished division in football in 2011, nothing in free agency indicates the AFC South is likely to be massively better in 2011. While Jacksonville and Indianapolis took steps that may help them escape the league’s basement, the Houston Texans seem poised to potentially take a step back.
Houston Texans (10-6, AFC South Champions)
| New signings: | Retained: | Free agents lost: |
|---|---|---|
| RB Arian Foster C Chris Myers |
CB Jason Allen G Mike Brisiel TE Joel Dreessen FB Lawrence Vickers DE/OLB Mario Williams OT Eric Winston |
If not for the season-ending injury to Matt Schaub, the Houston Texans might have won the AFC in 2011. The Houston Texans at the end of March 2012 are clearly worse than the Houston Texans at the beginning of March 2012, though.
Even before the Texans had a good defense for the first time in franchise history in 2011, they’d had a good offense since Gary Kubiak had time to implement his zone-blocking system. First Steve Slaton, then Arian Foster were lightly-regarded young players who came in and had a lot of success, as players like Terrell Davis and Mike Anderson did when Kubiak was in Denver. Arian Foster was a restricted free agent and rather than tender him and risk losing him (but getting a first-round pick in return) to a team that front-loaded an offer sheet or losing him for nothing in free agency next season, the Texans chose to lock him up for the long term.
The cost of keeping Foster, though, was steep, as the Texans chose to cut Eric Winston, among the league’s better right tackles and a perfect scheme fit, and also lost starting right guard Mike Brisiel. The Texans were eventually able to clear space to re-sign center Chris Myers, so the three players on the left side of the starting offensive line do return. Compounded by the loss of tight end Joel Dreessen, the timing and fluidity of movement so important to the Texans’ key outside zone runs will almost certainly suffer for it. Arian Foster will have to compensate for it.
Given the Texans’ cap problems and his injury history, Mario Williams’ departure was nigh-inevitable, and the Texans showed last season they could play well without him. They’ll need to add depth at outside linebacker and on the defense line as well.
The Texans are probably still the best team in the AFC South, but they’ll have to hope Foster is ability to compensate for worse blocking in front of him and that the defense doesn’t take nearly as big a step back the next season as most defenses that improve that much. Another division title is still possible, but don’t think of them as the favorites in the AFC.
GRADE: C
Tennessee Titans (9-7)
| New signings: | Retained: | Free agents lost: |
|---|---|---|
| G Steve Hutchinson OLB/DE Kamerion Wimbley |
SS Jordan Babineaux LB Patrick Bailey FS Michael Griffin |
WR Donnie Avery CB Cortland Finnegan DT Jason Jones |
From the perspective of the above chart, the Titans had a more or less average offseason. They lost a player whom they viewed as very good but more or less replaceable, while adding two starters at positions of need. More important, though, are the players not on the above chart, as owner Bud Adams upset the front office’s applecart by demanding the Titans chase Peyton Manning even though he clearly wasn’t in their plans.
The result of the Peyton chase? Manning is a member of the Denver Broncos, Mario Williams, whom the Titans were reportedly a front-runner for and who would’ve been a perfect scheme fit, never made it out of Buffalo, and centers Chris Myers, Scott Wells, and Jeff Saturday all signed elsewhere. It doesn’t seem like Adams will fire President Mike Reinfeldt, GM Ruston Webster, or head coach Mike Munchak for not getting Manning the way he threatened to fire the front office staff if they didn’t draft Vince Young in 2006, but the level of discontinuity Adams created had more or less the same result.
On the bright side, Hutchinson and Wimbley would be upgrades on what the Titans brought to left guard and defensive end last season. On the other hand, bringing in Hutchinson is an indictment of the team’s continuing inability to develop young offensive linemen into quality starters, and the Titans needed a right guard. Wimbley, meanwhile, fits more or less the profile of Jason Babin, whom the Titans let walk to Philadelphia last offseason for less money and less guaranteed money. No word on what incumbent center Eugene Amano, who still has three years remaining on his five-year, $26 million contract, thought of the Titans’ failed pursuit of Myers, Wells, and Saturday, either.
GRADE: C
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (5-11)
| New signings: | Retained: | Free agents lost: |
|---|---|---|
| QB Chad Henne WR Laurent Robinson CB Aaron Ross |
OLB Russell Allen SS Dwight Lowery CB Rashean Mathis DE Jeremy Mincey DT C.J. Mosley OT Guy Whimper |
QB Luke McCown DE Matt Roth (unsigned) |
Around the second half of last season, quarterback Blaine Gabbert switched from an object of scorn to an object of pity. No, he didn’t start displaying the pocket savvy and awareness of a veteran, but he seemed to be adjusting somewhat to the speed of an NFL game. Unfortunately, his improved play didn’t really produce better results, as his offensive line was quite offensive and his receivers weren’t getting open. Beyond the need for reinforcements on offense, the Jaguars also faced a possible step back on defense thanks to a number of key free agents.
After free agency, the Jaguars’ receiving corps should be better, if only because it would be hard to be worse. They’re certainly hoping Laurent Robinson’s 2012 play will be a lot more like his 2011 work than his 2008, 2009, or 2010 play that saw him in and out of the trainer’s room and on and off the field even on the rare times he was healthy. He’s certainly an upgrade on players like Taylor Price and Jarett Dillard, but the Jaguars need him to be a lot of one.
On defense, the Jaguars did a good job of retaining key players like Jeremy Mincey, who had a bit of a breakout season but is only enough he probably won’t improve much, and Dwight Lowery, whom the Jets foolishly more or less gave away (Jets fans, that trade is why you see Eric Smith in the lineup. If you throw things at Mike Tanenbaum, I won’t blame you one bit). With Rashean Mathis coming off an ACL injury and the depth issues after he went out in 2011, adding Aaron Ross to compete with him was a good move.
Unless it was really Robinson that was the key man in Dallas in 2011, though, and not Jason Witten, Miles Austin, or Dez Bryant, the Jaguars are likely to be only a little better in 2012. Even with Mincey and Robinson, they could really use a first-rate pass rusher and wide receiver, and a right tackle wouldn’t be a bad idea either unless you’re a much better Eben Britton fan than I am. The number seven pick can only answer one of those, though.
GRADE: B
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (2-14)
| New signings: | Retained: | Free agents lost: |
|---|---|---|
| WR Donnie Avery G Mike McGlynn DE Cory Redding C Samson Satele SS Tom Zbikowski |
DE Robert Mathis WR Reggie Wayne |
RB Joseph Addai (unsigned) DE Jamaal Anderson LB Gary Brackett (unsigned) TE Dallas Clark (unsigned) T/G Ryan Diem (retired) FB Jerome Felton WR Pierre Garcon WR Anthony Gonzalez CB Jacob Lacey QB Peyton Manning DT Daniel Muir OT Quinn Ojinnaka QB Dan Orlovsky G Mike Pollak C Jeff Saturday TE Jacob Tamme |
Welcome to the 2012 Indianapolis Colts! See Robert Mathis and Reggie Wayne? Those are about the only guys left from the Indianapolis Colts you remember in the Super Bowl. Free agency 2012 just emphasizes the Colts’ transition from the Tony Dungy/Peyton Manning era to the Chuck Pagano/Andrew Luck (or maybe Robert Griffin, Jim Irsay reminds me) era.
With this sort of franchise makeover, the Colts are clearly a work in progress. They made a big effort to retain Pierre Garcon, who’s young enough that he’ll still be good when the Colts are good again, but the Redskins paid him silly money. Jacob Tamme was probably another player who’s still a Colt in an ideal world. Reggie Wayne’s around to provide some continuity, as is Robert Mathis, who may be spending more time rushing the passer standing up if Pagano implements some of Baltimore’s 3-4 and hybrid fronts. Ditto Dwight Freeney, who’s a member of the Colts at least for now. Cory Redding exemplifies the defensive makeover as much as any player, and is typical of the sort of transitional veteran a new coach brings with him.
The good idea is Andrew Luck won’t necessarily know just how different the supporting cast in front of him is from what it was in 2010. Donald Brown showed he’s capable of being an effective runner. Reggie Wayne will still know how to run routes. Luck will need better and healthier seasons from 2011 draft picks Anthony Castonzo and Ben Ijalana, though, and new center Samson Satele to do a better job against big heavies like Terrance Knighton and Earl Mitchell, or he may find himself on the turf all too often as a rookie.
GRADE: Incomplete
