The next big move for each team in AFC South

The AFC South could be the worst division in the NFL in 2023, with three of the four teams apparently hitting reset on their rosters. Here’s a move each team should make before the season starts.

Houston Texans

Add a running back to complement Dameon Pierce: While Pierce had a strong rookie season (220 carries, 939 yards, four touchdowns), Houston did next to nothing running the ball when he wasn’t on the field. In fact, Pierce accounted for 64 percent of the team’s rushing yards last year, and no other running back had more than 123 yards. The Texans had the second-fewest rushing yards (1,476) and rushing touchdowns (seven) in the league last season.

Adding former Buffalo Bills RB Devin Singletary, who rushed for 1,689 yards and 12 touchdowns over the past two seasons, will help, but the Texans need a reliable three-down running game to take pressure off rookie QB C.J. Stroud. Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, Kareem Hunt and Mark Ingram are still free agents, as are Dontrell Hilliard and J.D. McKissic, who could also help as receivers out of the backfield.

Indianapolis Colts

Shore up the offensive line: The Colts allowed the eighth-highest pressure percentage in the NFL last season (24.2), per Pro Football Reference, and the team did virtually nothing (aside from drafting two mid-round rookie tackles) to address any of the glaring issues it has in front of rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson.

While fourth-round pick Blake Freeland and seventh-round pick Jake Witt provide solid depth at tackle, it’s unrealistic to expect either to start as rookies. Last year’s starting tackles — Bernhard Raimann and Braden Smith — combined to surrender 14 sacks, 32 hurries and 57 pressures, and swing lineman Matt Pryor allowed a team-high 31 pressures while filling in at tackle and both guard spots.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Add a bona fide pass rusher: Despite generating 386 pressures and 246 hurries, the Jaguars were tied for the seventh-fewest sacks in the league (35) last season. Part of the solution is getting more than 10.5 combined sacks from Josh Allen and Travon Walker. However, the Jags lost Arden Key’s 51 pressures, 33 hurries and 4.5 sacks and Dawuane Smoot, who had the second-most sacks and tied for the fourth-most pressures, is a free agent.

Jacksonville drafted Tyler Lacy out of Oklahoma State in the fourth round and outside linebacker Yasir Abdullah from Louisville in the fifth, but there are still plenty of high-upside edge rushers who could solidify the team’s pass rush, including Yannick Ngakoue (44 pressures, 9.5 sacks in 2022), Leonard Floyd (54 pressures, nine sacks) and Robert Quinn, who’s one year removed from an 18.5 sack-season. 

Tennessee Titans

Find another legitimate wide receiver: The Titans have arguably the worst wide receiver room in the NFL, and it may not even be all that close. They had the fourth-fewest receptions (285) and receiving yards (3,227) in the NFL last season, and they released leading receiver Robert Woods early in the offseason. A rested and healthy Treylon Burks is the unquestioned No. 1 of the group, and he is expected to take a big step forward with his development. 

But aside from him, the rest of the team’s WR depth has a combined 79 receptions, 1,037 yards and seven touchdowns among them, and Tennessee will need a stronger supporting cast if rookie QB Will Levis gets any meaningful playing time in 2023. Outside of past-their-primes Kenny Golladay, Jarvis Landry and Sammy Watkins, the free-agent market is pretty bleak, but the trade market could yield more fruitful options, including Arizona's DeAndre Hopkins, the Chargers' Keenan Allen or Denver's Jerry Jeudy or Courtland Sutton.