Why Houston Texans Are Clear Team to Beat in AFC South Next Season

With the Houston Texans' recent free agency losses, many believe that their chances of easily winning the division are plummeting. They insist that the other offenses in the AFC South will be able take advantage of the losses of Mario Williams, DeMeco Ryans and Jason Allen, and be able to impose their will on the Texans defense.

Many point out the Texans' two losses on the offensive line of Eric Winston and Mike Brisiel as evidence that Houston's running game will struggle next season.

The Texans, however, will be back and better than ever next season, and they will be the clear-cut favorite to win the AFC South.

On defense, Houston returns nine starters from the unit that was ranked as the second-best defense in the NFL last season. Brooks Reed, one player that was not a starter at the beginning of last season, started 11 games in place of the injured Williams.

In that 11-game span, Reed totaled seven sacks in his rookie season. Darryl Sharpton, the other non-starter from last season, was outperforming Ryans until he was placed on IR midway through the season.

While the Texans' defense will probably take a hit with the loss of Williams, last year, they proved that Williams was not critical to the team's success after he suffered his season-ending injury.

When Williams went down, Reed and Connor Barwin stepped up and the pass rush only seemed to improve. The Texans went from having a good defense when Williams was healthy to having an elite defense after his injury.

The defense is also incredibly young, and it should only improve in its second year under DC Wade Phillips. Seven of the eleven starters for the Texans next year have played less than four NFL seasons. With so many young players that will certainly improve on an individual basis, one could only expect the defense to improve as a whole. 

With so many inexperienced offenses in the AFC South, the Texans' defense should be able to dominate the division.

Last season, when healthy, the Texans' offense was scarily efficient. On the ground, Arian Foster and Ben Tate were nearly impossible to stop, and Matt Schaub could easily move the offense down the field through the passing game. Before Schaub's injury, the Texans scored on their opening drive nine out of eleven times.

Also, before Schaub's season ending injury, the Texans were averaging 30 points per game. That was one of the highest totals in the NFL at the time, and the Texans were doing it without their stars, Foster and Andre Johnson, for several long stretches of time. 

The main concern for the Texans' offense next season is the weak receiving corps, and the two new starters that will be joining one of the NFL's best offensive lines. 

The Texans, however, are expected to draft a wide receiver with their first-round pick, and the NFL draft this year is stacked with play-making receivers. The Texans should be able to find a receiver in the draft that could effectively compliment the superstar, Johnson.

If the Texans draft a receiver early, they will most likely have two play-making receivers lining up together, along with one of the best running backs in the NFL.

The Texans' skill positions appear to be loaded heading into next season, so now the main problem is whether the offensive line will be able to keep up its success.

Houston's offensive line was very important to the success of Foster and Tate last season, and two members of that line left in free agency. The determining factor of how effective the rushing attack will be is if Antoine Caldwell and Rashad Butler are able to step up and make the Texans forget about Winston and Brisiel. 

There is reason for optimism, as Caldwell filled in for the injured Brisiel last season, and there was absolutely no drop-off in production. In the two games that Foster started along with Caldwell, he rushed for 158 yards and 109 yards. Caldwell proved last season that he would not hinder the offensive line's ability to succeed, and that he could, in fact, contribute to its elite status.

Rashad Butler, on the other hand, is a complete wild card, and there is no telling how he will play next season. The word on the street, however, is that Butler is working out every day, and that he is determined to become the best linemen that he could be. If this is true, then the Texans' offensive line should be just as effective as it was last year, therefore making the rushing attack nearly impossible to stop.

If the Texans' rushing and passing game can remain just as efficient as it was last season, Houston will have no trouble scoring on its AFC South foes. 

The Texans' consistent offense and stingy defense will improve next season, making it extremely difficult for any other team in the AFC South to dethrone the defending division champions.