Free Agency Review - AFC South

In recent times the AFC South has gone from being possibly one of the weaker divisions, to one of the more competitive and perhaps stronger divisions in the League. The off season has been pretty quiet for the division in terms of new blood but everyone has made at least one big move.

-Indianapolis Colts-

Key Additions:

Ryan Grant	WR	1yr	$5m
Eric Ebron	TE	2yrs	$15m

The Colts season is more likely to be defined by how well Andrew Luck can return from his year out due to injury than any new acquisitions. Indeed, his return will feel like a new addition compared to last year. The departure of Frank Gore (despite the fact he is ageless) and the current lack of a replacement beyond Marlon Mack suggests they will be hunting in the draft once more, albeit Running Back isn’t the only position where they need help. Gore was RB18 in standard scoring (19 in PPR) so whoever takes the lead will have plenty of relevance and production, whether Gore will in another situation remains to be seen.

Their one free agent signing which does have an effect on fantasy somewhat is the signing of Ryan Grant to a much more understandable contract than the one which the Ravens backed out of. Grant passed his physical and joins TY Hilton and Chester Rodgers in the Wide Receiver corps, replacing the Jacksonville bound Donte Moncrief. Grant should have a chance to excel with Luck passing to him and despite his limited experience he has shown flashes and may be the kind of guy to open up the field a little for Luck. Eric Ebron adds to the receiving options and while it may be a great fit for him to rebuild his career, with him and Jack Doyle both being pass catching tight ends they may just be sabotaging each other’s fantasy value.

Colts may be in the running for Saquon Barkely in the draft despite moving back to 6 because of the trade with the Jets but there’s still a chance they strengthen elsewhere as their offensive line and their defence still need a lot of work first. The exciting thing for fantasy is that they still look like a team who will have to plain outscore another to win which makes Luck and Hilton very nice propositions.

-Jacksonville Jaguars-

Key Additions:

Donte Moncrief	WR	1yr	$9.6m
Marquise Lee	WR	4yrs	$34m
Austin Seferian-Jenkins	TE	2yrs	$10m

The Jaguars, fresh from almost taking out the Patriots in the AFC Championship game have not stood still and they continue to build and should be even stronger this season. They now have stability at QB after Blake Bortles signed a 3 year $54m contract to solidify himself as their starter and end the questions surrounding him. He was QB13 last season and he seems so much more developed than in previous years. He has the pieces now to go and prove his worth. Those pieces will not include Allen Robinson whose injury concerns led to the Jags release him into the wild where he was picked up by the Bears. Marquise Lee returns on a pretty fair $34m 4 year contract while the addition of Donte Moncrief could be an interesting proposition. It’s an eye-watering contract when you see all of injury plagued Moncriefs’$9.6m contract is fully guaranteed but considering the Jaguars strength in depth at Wide Receiver with Keelan Cole and Jordan Mickens waiting in the shadows and Dede Westbrook likely starting in the Slot, even if he goes down their receiving corps doesn’t look considerably weaker. It’s a very good position for the team, but for fantasy it’s a nightmare since on a team which looks to still be run first, there’s a lot of mouths to feed for Bortles.

Another one of those mouths to feed is new Tight End acquisition Austin Seferian-Jenkins. After dispensing with Marcedes Lewis after 12 years the former Jet now adds some youth and much higher pass catching ability to an already deep receiving setup which again is going to provide a fantastic option for Bortles, but a very volatile option for fantasy owners. He could be a TE1 when you consider the lack of scoring depth at the position, but he could be a best ball darling.

Arguably the biggest signing for the Jags offence isn’t listed above but Andrew Norwell is important for a number of reasons. The best free agent guard available chose the Jaguars as his new home and this strengthens one of the Jaguars weakest areas considerably and with this the effectiveness of Bortles and Fournette should increase. His 5 year $66.5m contract is huge but it will all be worth it if they can topple the Patriots. The Jaguars look to be building something very capable of challenging for years to come.

-Houston Texans-

Key Additions:

Nothing

On offence the Texans are very much looking to people returning from injury providing them with the required boost. Deshaun Watson has the potential to be special and with Hopkins and Fuller already building chemistry with him and exciting prospect D’onta Foreman coming back there’s not been a lot to sort. Hopefully Foreman can come back from his Achilles injury without losing too much of what he had while Lamar Miller should still see a lot of work (if kept) especially when you consider he is only 26. The loss of CJ Fiedorowicz to retirement leaves a void at Tight end but having been without him much of last season it’s unlikely to be a major issue.

Their main work of this off season happened on Defence as out when Brian Cushing but in comes the Honey Badger Tyrann Mathieu from the Cardinals (1yr, $7m) and the prospect of him and JJ Watt along with the rest of their defence provides a scary proposition for other teams. This could be a highly owned DST and with good reason. This should also help the offence and is Lamar Miller remains the lead, he could be highly valuable. If Miller leaves or has a reduced role, Foreman could be a steal.

The Texans biggest fight this season as usual will likely be with injuries. If they can keep guys healthy they will be a force, but that’s never a given. The fantasy outlook is promising for pretty much every position apart from Tight End but in modern times, that’s just in line with most of the league.

-Tennessee Titans-

Key Additions:

Dion Lewis

RB

4yrs

$19.8m

Tennessee let go of Demarco Murray early in the off-season and so naturally all the hype circled around Derrick Henry now being a Bell Cow Running back and having pass catching duties. Those thoughts were somewhat nullified and the flames quelled when Dion Lewis signed a xyr, $xm contract with the Titans early in free agency. This by no means kills the value of either, but you have to accept that it diminishes their returns in fantasy. For the team it could be a master stroke which sadly continues the trend that the best thing for NFL teams in real life is variety and this is the enemy of fantasy value (apart from for the QB).

Another big acquisition was Malcom Butler from the Patriots. He’s signed a huge 5 year $61.25m deal which perhaps limited any other work they wanted to do but in truth with their QB, Running Backs and Tight Ends set and a growing Corey Davis at Wide Receiver, they perhaps are only a few receiving options short of being ready.

Another team where their off season has been quiet but the items done weren’t insignificant. Corey Davis will be tempting for a number of people this season, all hoping Mariota shakes off his injuries and bounces back in style. The Lewis, Henry combination will at first confuse a number of people. Both will be drafted but quite where may vary throughout this off season and it’ll be hard to judge until week one itself. Henry should be the lead but Lewis will have heavy PPR value.