2017 NFL Draft: The Entire AFC South Improved on Day One
By Luke Worsham
The entirety of the AFC South had a great Day One of the NFL Draft.
The Tennessee Titans filled two major needs by selecting Western Michigan WR Corey Davis and USC CB Adoree’ Jackson in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. However, they weren’t the only team in the AFC South to vastly improve their roster on day one. Here’s a look at how the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, and Houston Texans improved with their first round selections.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU
Every offseason, seemingly, the Jaguars “win” free agency. For years they’ve had a habit of handing inordinate amounts of money to above average players in hopes that they somehow transform an otherwise underwhelming roster. This offseason was no exception, as the Jags inked top free-agents A.J. Bouye and Calais Campbell to big money longterm contracts.
Why are the Jaguars, in a league often defined by the salary cap, able to consistently spend large amounts of capital on free agents? The answer is simple: poor drafting has withheld the franchise from signing homegrown players to lucrative longterm extensions. Thus, they have enough money to pay other teams’ castaways.
Going into the 2016 season, the Jaguars seemed to be primed for a run at the AFC South title. Quarterback Blake Bortles was expected to have a break out season, receiver Allen Robinson had been a Pro Bowler the year before, and draft picks Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack were supposed to transform the defense. Unfortunately for Jacksonville and their fans, none of those things came to fruition. Bortles regressed at a scary rate, Robinson had a down year, and, while Ramsey had a very good rookie year, Myles Jack never really made an impact.
Thanks to another catastrophically bad season, the Jaguars found themselves picking in the top ten of the draft yet again on Thursday night. With the fourth overall pick, they passed on top-talent Jamal Adams and instead settled on selecting someone to help their offense: LSU’s Leonard Fournette.
Fournette is a violent runner in the style of Marshawn Lynch, Bo Jackson, and Jim Brown. Though comparisons to Adrian Peterson might be a bit much because of Fournette’s lack of twitchiness as a runner, he is an ideal back for a traditional power running scheme. He isn’t a generational talent or as versatile as last year’s #4 pick, Ezekiel Elliot, but Fournette is capable of guiding an offense for years to come.
With a runner that their offense can fully rely on to be a bell cow and carry the load, the Jaguars should be able to take some pressure off of Bortles and move the ball much more consistently.
Indianapolis Colts: Malik Hooker, FS, Ohio State
When you fire your general manager and retain your head coach, it becomes clear that a team’s problem is not schematic, but a roster problem. The Colts are no exception to this principle.
At the helm of the Colts’ ship stands Andrew Luck, the gunslinger who’s been one of the NFL’s best ever since he entered the league in 2012. His first mates remain WR T.Y. Hilton, a dynamic speedster, and CB Vontae Davis, a Pro Bowl shutdown cornerback. Aside from those three players, the Colts’ roster has a sizable lack of talent. LT Anthony Castonzo, RB Frank Gore, and TE Jack Doyle are all quality players, but those guys aren’t exactly game changers.
Despite poor pass protection and really having no running game to speak of since Luck entered the league, the Colts’ offense has consistently been a high octane attack over the last few years. The defense’s fortunes, conversely, haven’t been as positive. For years the Colts’ defense has relied on aging veterans and below average talent to guide a team that was talented enough to play in the AFC Championship just two years ago.
On day one of the 2017 NFL Draft, new general manager Chris Ballard took the first step towards solving the talent crisis on the defensive side of the ball, selecting Ohio State’s Malik Hooker. If a scout were able to hand craft a safety to play centerfield, they would make something very similar to Hooker, perhaps with a bit of added muscle weight. He has the athleticism, eyes, and ball skills to be a Pro Bowl caliber ballhawk.
Hooker’s playing style is very resembles a combination of Earl Thomas and Ed Reed. He has Thomas’ quickness and ability to fly all around the field, and Reed’s ability to play the ball and make things happen with the ball in his hands. At Ohio State in 2016, Hooker returned three interceptions for touchdowns.
Though he likely fell to them because of injury concerns, the Colts most certainly got a steal in Hooker. If he lives up to his enormous potential, he has the ability to transform not just their defense, but the entire team.
Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
The Houston Texans have won the AFC South two years in a row behind one of the best defenses in the NFL. Stars like Jadeveon Clowney, J.J. Watt, Johnathan Joseph, and Whitney Mercilus allow defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel to make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks week in and week out.
Houston’s offense is star-studded as well.. WR’s DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller, and RB Lamar Miller have the ability to hit a home run any time the ball is in their hands. However, the one thing their offensive symphony has been missing for years, ever since Matt Schaub’s astonishingly bad season in 2013, is a conductor.
The Texans’ poor quarterback situation has not come from a lack of trying. Experiments with Case Keenum, T.J. Yates, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Tom Savage, and Brock Osweiler have all failed, some miserably. On the first night of the draft, they traded up to the twelfth overall selection to begin a new experiment. This time, with Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Watson’s mobility isn’t to the level of Marcus Mariota or Robert Griffin III, but he possesses the speed and instincts in and out of the pocket necessary to escape pressure and have success on designed quarterback runs. He doesn’t have as big of an arm as fellow first rounders Mitchell Trubisky (#2 to Chicago) or Patrick Mahomes II (#10 to Kansas City), but has the tools and intangibles to develop into a quality quarterback in the NFL.
If Tony Romo had decided to stay in the NFL and sign with the Texans instead of joining Jim Nantz in the booth at CBS, the Texans could have been a legitimate contender to knock off the Patriots and win the AFC. Watson simply won’t give Houston that same immediate value. What Watson does give them, however, is longevity. Romo likely would have only played a year or two, whereas Watson has the ability to become the franchise quarterback the Texans have sought since the franchise was started.
More often than not, the quarterback position is about intangibles as oppose to raw talent. Mitchell Trubisky was a one year starter in college who went 8-5 that we don’t know very much about. Patrick Mahomes II has a cannon for an arm and can move around well, but had a losing record in college and has a propensity for turnovers. Deshaun Watson took a previously average ACC program to new heights, finishing as runner-up and champion of the College Football Playoff in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
All three of the quarterbacks selected in the first round have the ability to have long and successful pro careers. As for the one that seems the most likely, unfortunately for Titans fans, Watson is the best choice.