Jacksonville Jaguars : AFC South Ranks – Offensive Line

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The AFC South is seen by many NFL analyst as one of the weaker divisions in football. That can be a positive because it will take less improvement by the Jags to turn things around. The negative is a total lack of respect. Aside from the Colts, there is not much to be excited about right now in the AFC South, except for the impending NFL draft in which three of their teams will be picking in the top 11, and two in the top three. What I will be doing is ranking the AFC South at multiple positions. For now I will be going with the players who would be the presumed starters while attempting to take into consideration free agency and draft picks. We have ranked QB, RB, WR, & TE. Now we focus on Offensive Lines.

I will be rating using offense statistics. Much like golf, the lowest score is the best score. I will not be rating individual players. Let’s go!

1. Indianapolis Colts – 3725 passing yds (2nd), 32 sacks allowed (1st), 10 INTs (1st), 23 passing TDs (1st), 1743 rushing yds (T-2), 15 rushing TDs (2nd), 4.3 yards per carry (1st) = Total Offensive Score of 10.5 points. The Colts were first or second in every category. It really wasn’t even close. Now a lot can be contributed to Andrew Luck, who helps not just in passing but also is a skilled runner. Luck rushed for 377 yds along with 4 rushing TDs. That makes a big difference. The Indianapolis Colts have the best offensive line in the AFC South.
2. Tennessee Titans – 3496 pass yds (3rd), 37 sacks allowed (2nd), 16 INTs (2nd), 22 pass TDs (2nd), 1894 rush yds (1st), 16 rush TDs (1st), 4.1 YPC (3rd) = Total Offensive Score of 14 points. The Titans made their hay with the running game. No matter how disappointing a year Chris Johnson had, the Titans overcame. Considering the lack of consistency at the QB position, they still posted top two stats in most of the passing categories. It is amazing that they weren’t able to use these stats to post more victories. It will be interesting to see how the Titans’ offense will be affected by a new coaching staff. The Tennessee Titans possess the 2nd best offensive line in the AFC South.
3. Houston Texans – 3813 pass yds (1st), 42 sacks allowed (3rd), 22 INTs (4th), 19 pass TDs (3rd), 1743 rush yds (T-2nd), 19 rush TDs (T-3rd), 4.2 YPC (2nd)  = Total Offensive Score of 19 points. Lots going on here. Houston is not a team built to lead the division in any passing drills. This is a smash-mouth run, run, then when they least expect it, run some more. The injury riddled year by Arian Foster, combined with the poor performance by Ben Tate killed the running game. The defense left them trailing a lot so that hurt the running game also. This is a team that went to the playoffs the two season’s prior to last year, so a turn around could come quickly. For now…The Houston Texans are the 3rd best offense in the AFC South.
4. Jacksonville Jaguars – 3441 pass yds (4th), 50 sacks allowed (4th), 21 INTs (3rd), 16 pass TDs (4th), 1260 rush yds (4th), 7 rush TDs (T-3rd), 3.3 YPC (4th) = Total Offensive Score of 26.5 (miserably in last place). Finishing last in five of the seven offensive categories is embarrassing. There aren’t enough excuses (Joeckel’s injury, 3rd offensive coordinator in 3 yrs, underwhelming QB & RB performances) to put any kind of shine on this turd. OC Jedd Fisch was recently called one of the most innovative quarterback coaches in the league by no less than NFL Network guru Mike Mayock. Hopefully that is an indication that some of these numbers will improve in 2014. Regardless, there is no doubt, in any world, by ANY definition, the Jacksonville Jaguars have the ABSOLUTELY worst offensive line of the AFC South.

So we have completed rating the AFC South’s offensives and players. I’ll be back in a few days starting on the defense with DE. Hope you will be back.

Ratings by Michael McDonald.

I hear this Twitter thing is pretty cool but I still don’t get it. Tell me how I can use it better. Write me @gumbussy.