Will the AFC South be the gift that keeps on giving for the Colts, or will they fail to take advantage of it yet again?
According to PFF, the AFC South is projected to be the NFL’s worst division ahead of the 2025 campaign:
8. AFC SOUTH: TEXANS, JAGUARS, COLTS, TITANS
Cumulative over/under win total: 30
The Texans captured their second straight AFC South title in 2024 behind rising star C.J. Stroud, but their offensive line remains a concern. Outside of Laremy Tunsil — who’s no longer with the team — no lineman earned a grade above 70.5 last season. That said, Houston’s defense should continue to fly around and keep them atop the division as the team to beat.
The Jaguars are firmly in the mix, as well. Their success may hinge on how quickly new offensive coordinator Liam Coen and quarterback Trevor Lawrence can establish chemistry. Much will also depend on how they utilize two-way talent Travis Hunter, whose impact could be felt on both sides of the ball.
The Colts face uncertainty at quarterback, but their defense provides a solid foundation. They earned a 74.5 team defensive grade in 2024 and could take another step forward this year.
As for the Titans, the rebuild is still in full swing. Even with Cam Ward under center, they enter 2025 as a team likely headed for another top-five draft pick. After finishing as PFF’s lowest-ranked team last season, expectations remain low while they work to reshape the roster.
It’s not all that surprising when you consider that two of the teams just had Top 5 picks in the recent NFL Draft regarding both the Tennessee Titans (3-14) and Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13), while Indianapolis also didn’t have a winning record (8-9) last year.
It’s been a division that no one’s really convincingly taken a hold of the past two seasons—as the Houston Texans (10-7) have become back-to-back divisional champions by default.
It speaks to the Colts’ routine inability to take advantage of a lowly AFC South as of late, as this isn’t a division that’s been recently ruled by Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson, etc. It’s been ripe for the taking, but Indianapolis has continuously fallen asleep on the job, crashing late.
Besides the bottom feeders’ recent early draft picks, no one’s really otherwise made any splashes in free agency or through trades to significantly improve, although you could argue the Colts at least have with the key signings of Camryn Bynum and Charvarius Ward to shore up their secondary under new veteran defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
Now, whether the AFC South will be the gift that keeps on giving, is whether the Colts can finally take advantage of it. Indianapolis has not won the division since 2014, with each of their AFC South rivals having won it at least twice during that lengthy drought.
A lot of it will come down to whether the Colts can get consistently solid production from the league’s most important position, starting quarterback, between incumbent Anthony Richardson and his top competition, veteran addition Daniel Jones.
However, the Colts can’t talk about having serious Super Bowl aspirations until they reclaim the division again, which is something that they simply haven’t done in recent memory.