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1.Houston Texans: Wade Phillips did some great things with this defense a year ago. But he's not the only member of the Texans' organization who deserves credit for an incredibly improved defense from 2010 to 2011. Houston's front office was very ag...

Is there sufficient leadership to replace what the Houston Texans lost? Once they get in a huddle, the Texans won't be looking around and thinking about how DeMeco Ryans and Eric Winston are not there. But the two players the team parted with to s...

For what the Texans need out of their second inside linebacker, I think they are quite happy with the idea of Darryl Sharpton filling what used to be DeMeco Ryans' spot. Sharpton created a solid buzz back in his first training camp in 2010, when t...

Continuing our borderline relevant, hopefully fun and interesting look at the history of the specific draft picks our division's teams hold this year, we look at the Philadelphia Eagles, who have nine picks in this year's draft. Some interesting stuf...

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Philadelphia Eagles needed help at linebacker -- needed a starter-quality, sure-tackling veteran to man the middle of their defense. No one who watched them last year could doubt that, and it was their top offseason position p...

Gary Kubiak conceded the early stages of free agency were rough on the Houston Texans. They re-signed running back Arian Foster before he got to restricted free agency, and managed to keep center Chris Myers after he saw some interest from outside...

With the departure of Peyton Manning and Mario Williams, the AFC South lost two overall No. 1 picks. The loss of star power led me to wonder about what our teams have left in terms of high-ranking draft picks, and how they compare to one another a...

The Philadelphia Eagles made a big move to bolster the middle of their defense, acquiring two-time Pro Bowl linebacker DeMeco Ryans from the Houston Texans for a fourth-round draft pick in 2012.

The Colts' release of Peyton Manning will leave a huge void in our division. Without him in the AFC South, how does a star system that's revolved around him for some time now align? We'll make two large presumptions here -- Mario Williams will ...

Reading the coverage ... Houston Texans The Texans will have serious options at wide receiver in the first round of the draft, says John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Why did people want to believe Ryan Braun was innocent but presumed Br...

Who played the most on defense in the AFC South in 2011? Here's a rundown, with percentage of defensive snaps played: DE - Jeremy Mincey, Jaguars, 93.5 DE - J.J. Watt, Texans, 77.37 DT - Tyson Alualu, Jaguars, 83.74 DT - Jurrell Casey, T...

Monday we presented the All AFC-South offense. Today we move to defense and special teams. I felt like there was a worthy candidate at every spot, and beyond wrestling with choosing between Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis for a defensive end spot...

Ray Lewis finished atop ESPN.com's NFL Any Era poll, and he's certainly a guy whose game would have worked in any point in time of professional football. The AFC South finished with just two players in the list of 20, with Colts quarterback Peyton...

Rivers McCown of Football Outsiders looks at the big risers and fallers in terms of under-25-year old talent. He breaks down the contribution teams got from guys who fit the bill, factoring in quarterback talent, track record for developing young ...

Many NFL awards have been doled out, but I know the top players from the division still await our All-AFC South Team. So it's time to set about putting it together. Here you'll see my initial sketch of the team. The players I've added, in my ey...

We'll wait until next week to start building the All-AFC South Team, and you'll have a big chance to offer input there. This week we'll pass out hardware for individual awards. Drum roll please: Player of the year: Johnathan Joseph, Texans c...