Remember when the NFL preseason was four weeks long and it felt like waiting for it to end took forever? Now, the move to three weeks makes it feel like it's already over before it started. Funny how things like that work out, isn't it?
Anyway, Week 3 of the preseason has arrived, which means the new NFL season is just around the corner. It's time to take stock of how teams around the league stack up.
Let's power rank the AFC South teams as the preseason wraps up.
4. Indianapolis Colts
So, Daniel Jones beat Anthony Richardson out for the Colts starting quarterback job.
That's ... a thing that happened. In the grand scheme of things, though, the very fact that there was a quarterback battle between those two players had always already doomed the Colts to the cellar of the AFC South. If Jones is replacing a guy you drafted at No. 4 overall in 2023, you've got a problem.
And that's a shame for the Colts, because the rest of the roster is solid! The addition of rookie tight end Tyler Warren gives Jones a number of good weapons, putting whoever the 2026 quarterback is for Indianapolis in a great spot. This really is a group that's one piece away from being a pretty good football team.
3. Tennessee Titans
Tennessee gets a major upgrade this season at the most important position after drafting Miami quarterback and Heisman finalist Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick.
After going just 3-14 last season with Will Levis and Mason Rudolph under center, the Titans find themselves in a much more interesting place now. Ward is one of five new starters on the offensive side of the ball, while the team also revamped its defense by bringing in guys like Xavier Woods, Dre'Mont Jones, Carlos Watkins and Jihad Ward.
The Titans don't look like a playoff team just yet, but this team is set to bounce out of the cellar in 2025.
2. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jags' hiring of Liam Coen was a slam-dunk move for the franchise. This feels like a do-or-die season for quarterback Trevor Lawrence, so adding an offensive mind like Coen makes a ton of sense. Jacksonville also added receiver help for Lawrence, drafting two-way star Travis Hunter in the first round and signing the underrated Dyami Brown away from Washington.
The defensive secondary is really the big question mark right now. If Hunter isn't playing back there full-time, the team has a handful of holes that still need to be plugged. The addition of safety Eric Murray and corner Jourdan Lewis in free agency helps that a little, but both players come with their own sets of concerns.
Jacksonville is likely to find itself in a number of shootouts this year. Can Lawrence step up and outduel his opponents?
1. Houston Texans
The Texans have won the past two AFC South crowns, quickly rocketing to the top of the division after drafting quarterback C.J. Stroud. Despite that, Stroud is coming off a fairly disappointing sophomore campaign as the team struggled to keep pressure off him, leading to a decrease in his numbers across the board.
Keeping Stroud clean will go a long way toward determining how good this team is in 2025. Of the projected offensive line starters, only right tackle Tytus Howard was on last year's roster, but most of the new pieces feel more like a random assortment of players than a cohesive line. Maybe this will work out for the Texans. Maybe it won't.
The good news is that even if the offensive line isn't fixed, the Texans defense will keep them competitive in every game they play. Assuming C.J. Gardner-Johnson doesn't miss too much time, you could make a strong argument that Houston has the best starting secondary in the league, as he's joined by Derek Stingley Jr., Kamari Lassiter and Calen Bullock, while the pass rush of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter will terrorize opposing quarterbacks.