Welcome to the division of young quarterbacks — one definitely good, one or two maybe good and one or two who the heck knows. Bottom line, a lot of the Best Ball stacking viability of this division will come down to these AFC South quarterbacks, which makes this one of the key inflection points to decipher in 2024 Best Ball drafts. As such, here are the biggest Best Ball questions for every team in the AFC South.
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Biggest Best Ball Questions for EVERY TEAM In The AFC South
Click through here to read other biggest Best Ball questions we’ve answered:
Houston Texans: Is this an elite stacking team?
Houston surprised everyone by winning the AFC South and finishing seventh in passing offense. And now that they are sold on C.J. Stroud as the one of the league’s future stars, the Texans have gone all in by getting Stefon Diggs to give the team one of the best three-man receiving corps in the NFL with him, Nico Collins and Tank Dell.
All three of those receivers rank in our top 50 overall players, and though Dell and Collins are slightly overvalued by ADP, it’s not by much. These guys are all pretty viable at their current draft positions:
- Collins: No. 18 Overall, ADP 17.7
- Diggs: No. 30 Overall, ADP 32.3
- Dell: No. 41 Overall, ADP 35.3
The only real concerns here are Dell coming off a broken leg and Diggs starting to show signs of aging. Plus, throw in Dalton Schultz (No. 137 overall, ADP 130.6), and that’s a lot of mouths for Stroud to feed and thus could limit any one guy’s going off for a full season.
As it stands, though, with Stroud also ranking right at his ADP of 70.6, we like the value on this offense if you can make it work. Is it an elite stacking team? Maybe, but there are no real weak points value-wise if you choose to go this route.
Indianapolis Colts: Is Anthony Richardson for real?
That’s the $1 million question for the Colts and for Best Ball. Anthony Richardson certainly looked the part last year as arguably the most productive running quarterback in the NFL and a surprisingly competent passer — for four games. The issue was his style (despite his size) leading to injuries basically every time he took a hit.
If Richardson stays healthy, maintains his elite rushing AND develops as a passer, he has QB1 upside — over Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. That would also obviously help Michael Pittman Jr. fulfill his promise as one of our top wide receiver values in the first few rounds of the draft (No. 25 overall, ADP 34.2).
But because there is so much mystery surrounding who Richardson can be this year, our median projections only place him fifth among quarterbacks and 4.6 spots lower than his ADP of 57.4.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Will “Elite Trevor Lawrence” ever happen?
It hasn’t happened yet; we’ve only gotten glimpses. And last year Trevor Lawrence was all sorts of sizzle without the steak. He ended up OK in terms of production, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 21 touchdowns while adding 300-plus yards and four touchdowns on the ground. But the 14 interceptions killed any value he could have had.
Now the Jaguars have an interesting wide receiver corps and possibly an improved offensive line. Are the receivers good for sure? Not necessarily, but they are all decent value at their ADP:
- Christian Kirk: No. 37 Overall, ADP 45.1
- Brian Thomas: No. 67 Overall, ADP 73.3
- Gabriel Davis: No. 122 Overall, ADP 132.7
The best value of anyone in this offense, though, is Lawrence. He is actually one of the best quarterback values period, coming in at a 118.7 ADP but ranking No. 96 for us. Now, 96th doesn’t place Lawrence in the “elite” tier, but we are much higher on him (and the Jacksonville offense in general) than the public is.
Tennessee Titans: Is Will Levis good enough for these pass catchers?
The Titans are not messing around this year — there is no obvious “rebuild mode” going on with Will Levis at quarterback. They have a real WR1 in DeAndre Hopkins (No. 56 overall, ADP 67.6), a solid WR2 with Calvin Ridley (No. 73 overall, ADP 57.2), potentially a good WR3 in Tyler Boyd (No. 186 overall, ADP 196) and a big running back acquisition in Tony Pollard to pair with Tyjae Spears.
(We have covered how we like Spears more than Pollard this year; check out our Best Ball running back committees article.)
Though Hopkins and Ridley especially have high upside in a vacuum, their rankings both for us and ADP are limited by Levis at quarterback. Levis wasn’t bad in his rookie season, and there were promising signs, but it’s tough to be absolutely certain that he can lead a high-end stacking offense, even with these receivers.
As such, Levis is slightly overvalued at his ADP of 174.8 (No. 185 in our rankings), and Ridley is coming in way overvalued (15.8 spots below ADP). Boyd and Hopkins, however, look like much better bang for their draft position bucks, so there is something to work with the Titans passing game.
