AFC South race more interesting with Jaguars' Travis Hunter, Titans' Cam Ward joining in

For the past five years, the AFC South has been an NFL laughingstock as indisputably the league’s weakest division.

Its combined regular-season record of 137-197-2 is significantly below the seven other divisions. The AFC South, of which the Jacksonville Jaguars are a member, is also the only division not represented in the Super Bowl or a conference title game over that span.

Since NFL realignment in 2002, the lone AFC South member to reach the Super Bowl has been the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts (2006, ’09), while every other division has had multiple teams get there.

Is this alarming trend on the verge of changing any time soon? Can the AFC South stop being bullied so repeatedly and show some evidence of being a bully?

Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ No. 2 draft pick, was all smiles on Friday April 25 as he arrived at the team facility for his introductory press conference.

More: Jacksonville Jaguars hit home run with bold move to trade up for Travis Hunter | Frenette

Well, if the investment in likely AFC South starting quarterbacks next season is any indication — as well as the Jaguars trading up in the 2025 draft to grab transcendent two-way star Travis Hunter with the No. 2 pick — the division might at least start making a push toward relevance.

In a quarterback-driven league, nobody outside the AFC South in recent memory has used higher draft capital to try and get it right at the game’s most important position.

It all started with the Jaguars selecting Trevor Lawrence at the top of the draft in 2021. The investment has yet to produce the desired results for various reasons, ranging from injury, to accuracy issues, to Jacksonville’s suspect surrounding cast.

The rest of the AFC South has since been bad enough to use top 4 draft picks on quarterbacks, hoping to forge a turnaround that has only worked with consistent success in Houston.

The Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud, seen here celebrating a touchdown with receiver Nico Collins (12), has emerged as the AFC South’s top quarterback after just two seasons in the NFL.

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 selection in 2023, has led his team to back-to-back division titles and one playoff win in each of his first two seasons, the first QB to pull off that feat since the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger in 2004-05.

It’s no guarantee the Jaguars, Texans, Colts and Tennessee Titans will stop avoiding double-digit loss seasons (combined 17 in the past decade), so they have felt compelled to fix their respective messes by using picks 1, 2, 4 and 1 on QBs in the past four years.

Tennessee became the last AFC South team to spend a No. 1 overall pick on a quarterback, grabbing the University of Miami’s Cam Ward on April 24. The Titans are banking on Ward elevating their franchise after three consecutive double-digit loss seasons, but with Tennessee’s suspect roster, that could take a few years.

The Tennessee Titans are counting on Miami Hurricanes quarterback and No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward reversing the team’s losing ways fortunes in recent years.

Indianapolis has had a hard time shedding its underachieving image since the abrupt retirement of quarterback Andrew Luck (another No. 1 draft pick) in 2018, making the postseason just once.

The Colts continue to put up with the maddening inaccuracy of ex-Florida Gator Anthony Richardson, who has barely completed 50 percent of his passes in two years. His inability to stay healthy could also put GM Chris Ballard’s job in jeopardy if Richardson doesn’t turn things around in 2025, especially since backup top-10 bust Daniel Jones is hardly a viable option.

No matter what happens with the Jaguars the rest of this offseason, the excuses for Lawrence not living up to his No. 1 draft status have run out.

If Stroud can win back-to-back titles behind a suspect offensive line, absorbing an NFL-high 91 sacks the last two years, it’s hard to look at Lawrence’s pedestrian 19-24 record since Urban Meyer departed and not wonder when his so-called generational talent is going to be maximized.

As the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence (16) enters his fifth season, it’s time for him to ascend into the AFC South’s best quarterback.

While he lost top targets Christian Kirk (traded to Texans) and Evan Engram (free agent to Denver Broncos), the arrival of Hunter to pair with receiver Brian Thomas Jr. should more than make up for it.

Between free agency acquisitions on the offensive line and the Hunter trade-up, Jaguars GM James Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen have backed up campaign promises to give Lawrence ample personnel support.

When you look at the investment in AFC South quarterbacks and how franchises are trying to give them weapons — the Colts picked Penn State tight end Tyler Warren at No. 14, and the Texans took 6-foot-4 Iowa State receiver Jayden Higgins at No. 36 — Coen is cautiously optimistic the Jaguars’ division can start making some noise.

“Yeah, it definitely could,” said Coen. “You could see there’s been a tangible investment in that [QB] position in this division. Whether that leads to a little bit more of the known passing situations, getting the ball in the air a little bit more. … But for us, it’s more, OK, how do we continue to be explosive on the offensive side of the ball and then also get people that can take the ball away from the other team on defense?

“In this league, you have to get takeaways. To affect the quarterbacks that are in this league now, you have to be able to rush them, and you have to be able to get your hands on the football.”

Coen can’t ignore the Jaguars’ NFL-low nine takeaways in 2024 or finishing 28th in sacks, but he got his first head coaching job because of his offensive acumen in attacking defenses.

In an AFC South fully loaded with highly drafted quarterbacks, Coen’s top priority should be turning Trevor Lawrence into the best one.

But there’s one significant hurdle: For now, C.J. Stroud is a cut above him.

[email protected]: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Titans QB Cam Ward, Jaguars’ Travis Hunter going 1-2 spices up AFC South

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AFC South race more interesting with Jaguars’ Travis Hunter, Titans’ Cam Ward joining in

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