This is part of an ongoing 8-part series where the Steel City Underground team takes their stab at predicting the 2016 NFL season.

This edition focuses on the AFC South.

2015 Finish	Terry	Brian	Joe	Ron
HOU	IND	HOU	HOU	JAX
IND	HOU	JAX	JAX	IND
JAX	TEN	TEN	IND	HOU
TEN	JAX	IND	TEN	TEN

Wow, these predictions are all over the place! Let’s see what everyone thought:

Brian

I’m not sold on Brock, but the Texans have some really good receivers, which maybe he’ll gel with. The real reason I am picking them is the defense. If Clowney stays healthy and Watt is Watt, they will be a team that makes some noise, and probably will win this division.

They have been doing it the Steelers way down there in Jacksonville, building through the draft, and they are chock-full of talent on both sides of the ball. They are still very young, and raw, but they could be really good. I don’t know about Bortles, but I like him better than I like Osweiller. So you’d think I’d make them the top pick, but no, because I think they still need some time to grow.

I am picking the Titans third because I still like Coach Dad, and hope they are better than they were. Mariotta should be better and I think they’ll be competitive, but not really good.

Picking Indy last makes my pick of them over us on Thursday night even more suspect. I just don’t know if Andrew Luck is still Andrew Luck. Can a guy get beaten down as quickly as this? Maybe. Beyond T.Y. Hilton, what else do they have going for them. I think they’ll be limping into last as a lame Colt.

Terry

Luck is a good QB but he carries the team on his back. TY can’t be his only option. This is a weak division and that will help them limp into the postseason 9-7.

Osweiler is going to try and show John Elway they should have tried to keep him, but injuries on defense will prove that they will be outscored for a 9-7 season as well.

I love what Mariotta brings to the NFL. If he can stay healthy they may sneak into 2nd place, but he needs an O-line that can protect him. I don’t know about the Jags. Their rebuilding is going to continue and they at least should have an 8-8 year.

Joe

I can’t believe Terry has one of the weakest divisions in the NFL having each team playing .500 or better ball. If anything, Houston will win the division because they play the Colts, Jags and Titans twice, each. That’s how they got in last year, starting 4 different quarterbacks. Now that they have their man, expect the younger receivers to take some pressure off of studly DeAndre Hopkins. The addition of Lamar Miller is huge as well. As long as Watt, Clowney and company stay healthy, they should host a home playoff game at the minimum.

Jacksonville is finally putting it together. Bortles needs to get sacked and turn the ball over less. That might happen if they get a running game to compliment their pass catchers. The Jags defense is still suspect, but good enough to leapfrog a decaying Colts team. Luck can be whatever: return to grace, or fall from it, it won’t matter with the weak supporting cast. They’ve failed to address the running game for years, and even in a passing league, throwing the ball will only get you so far.

I’m not sure what Tennessee is trying to do. They’ve failed miserably on previous drafts and are changing coaches once again. Until there’s some consistency there, they remain in the basement. There could be improvement, but it’s still going to take longer than the 16 games in the 2016 to get there.