Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

- Written by Lane Rizzardini
- Edited by Marc Caviglia

The AFC South has been rather easy to predict since its creation in 2002. The Indianapolis Colts have won the division seven out of nine years, with the Tennessee Titans winning it the other two times. The Titans are a bit off the radar now with a new head coach and no suitable quarterback to speak of. The other two members, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans, have failed to get over the hump despite having promising pieces in place. The Texans are in a much better place than the Jaguars to make a run with an electric offense, but are held back by one of the worst defenses in the league. It is of course the Colts and Peyton Manning who seem to continue getting richer, especially if they can bring back all of their walking wounded. With Matt Schaub and the Texans the only team capable of contending with Indy in 2011, the AFC South shows how important the quarterback position is in the National Football League.

TENNESSEE TITANS

It has been a tumultuous offseason for the Tennessee Titans, who dealt with a very public fight between head coach Jeff Fisher and quarterback Vince Young which surprisingly ended with both members of the team leaving. The team promoted its offensive line coach Mike Munchak to head coach, but it will be hard to replace Fisher who was the longest tenured head coach in the NFL at the time. On top of that, star wideout Kenny Britt has been arrested not once, but twice in a two month stretch. They will also have to find a suitable starting quarterback, as Rusty Smith and Kerry Collins have proved they are not anywhere near being the long-term answer. Filling this important position must be the team’s top priority this offseason, not only to improve the passing game but to keep teams from stacking the box on elite running back Chris Johnson.

 
TEAM STRENGTHS

1. Chris Johnson — By far the Tennessee Titans best offensive weapon and one of the NFL’s most electric players, Johnson had a “disappointing” follow up to his 2,000-yard 2009 campaign, rushing for 1,364 yards and 11 touchdowns. He posted a rather pedestrian 4.3 yards per carry average but considering opposing defenses were stacking the box with eight and nine defenders there wasn’t much he could do. He’ll rebound strong if the team can take some pressure off of him.

2. Kenny Britt — Britt is the guy that will hopefully be part of the solution to freeing up running lanes for Johnson. When staying out of trouble, or the training room, Britt is one of the games most talented receivers and he displayed this in 2010. In just 12 games last year Britt scored nine touchdowns and he had a stretch of five games in a row with a score before suffering a severe hamstring injury that forced him to miss extended time. That said, Britt has been arrested two times this offseason and is facing a suspension once a new labor deal is reached between the owners and the players.

3. Bend, Don’t Break Defense — Ranking No. 15 in points allowed isn’t exactly something you would call a “strength” for a defense, but when you see that they ranked 26th in yards allowed, it means the Titans were awfully stout on the goal line and truly exhibited a “bend, don’t break” mentality they will need to remain competitive.

TEAM NEEDS

1. Find A Signal Caller — One of the many teams in need of quarterback help this season, the Titans finally gave up on Vince Young and let him go into the free agent market. Now, left with no feasible starter (Kerry Collins doesn’t count) the team will have to search frantically for an answer at the position. If they don’t and let opposing defenses focus on Chris Johnson again, they could actually risk losing him to free agency as he seeks a major contract and greener pastures. Look for the Titans to use the NFL Draft to grab their franchise quarterback.

2. Improve Their Offensive Line  — Other than the quarterback issues, one of the problems in the running game was the offensive line, which clearly took a big hit when it lost center Kevin Mawae to retirement after the 2009 season. They need to find another anchor of Mawae’s caliber if they want to regain respectability and get the running game back to the level it was at in 2009.

3. Move Past Tumultuous Offseason  — While this isn’t necessarily a personnel issue, all of the issues the Titans went through this offseason were very public and couldn’t have been good for locker room continuity. Without their long term head coach, offensive coordinator or starting quarterback, the team will have to establish new, strong leadership immediately if they are to be successful in 2011.

**Note: All Offseason Needs Articles Were Written Before the 2011 NFL Draft**

AFC SOUTH NEEDS BY TEAM:  HOU  |  IND  |  JAC  |  TEN   (click to view)

AFC NORTH NEEDS BY TEAM:  BAL  |  CIN  |  CLE  |  PIT  (click to view)

AFC WEST NEEDS BY TEAM:  DEN  |  KC  |  OAK  |  SD  (click to view)

NFC EAST NEEDS BY TEAM:  DAL  |  NYG  |  PHI  |  WAS    (click to view)

NFC SOUTH NEEDS BY TEAM:  ATL  |  CAR  |  NO  |  TB    (click to view)

NFC NORTH NEEDS BY TEAM:  CHI  |  DET  |  GB  |  MIN    (click to view)

NFC WEST NEEDS BY TEAM:  ARI  |  STL  |  SF  |  SEA    (click to view)

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