2019 NFL Draft Guide: Coaching Systems -- AFC South

Let’s continue our coverage of each team’s coaching scheme.

If you didn’t catch the divisions already covered, just click the links below:

AFC East (this page also includes a glossary of offensive and defensive schemes)

AFC North

Now let’s head south while still in the AFC…

AFC South

Houston Texans

Offensive Breakdown: While Bill O’Brien finally “hired” an offensive coordinator, this is still very much his system. The only real question is who has the play-calling responsibilities. It sounds like O’Brien might be willing to relinquish the play-calling, but that probably has more to do with the fact that Tim Kelly has been a part of O’Brien’s staff for the last six years and the coach knows his system will be followed.

O’Brien likes to run a spread offense where they’ll usually line up three or four-wide using a variety of sets and send them out to different parts of the field to stretch the defense as much as possible which is supposed to help open up for bigger runs. He was adamant about making changes to his offense last season, but given the nightmares the Texans had with their offensive line, it really wasn’t about revamping the scheme as much as it was using a variety of formations. He used the 11-Personnel formation most often, but the protection issues caused for a greater need for two tight ends. While he used a lot of pre-snap motion, both seemed to be held back for blocking. That should change this season and with Kelly, former TE Coach with the team, now at the helm, we could see more differing formations than we got last year.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Deshaun Watson , Lamar Miller , DeAndre Hopkins , Jordan Thomas

Defensive System: 3-4 with a Cover-1 base

Defensive Breakdown: While Romeo Crennel is listed as just a second-year DC with the Texans, he’s actually been running this defense for some time. He was sitting as more of a supervisor originally back when Mike Vrabel was the DC, but after Vrabel left, Crennel came back to the sidelines. The base is 3-4, but keep in mind they do have the ability to switch between that and a 4-3 with J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney on the field. Moving back and forth should keep offenses guessing and forcing them into some bad reads. As for the coverage, Crennel usually likes the Cover-1 where the corners are man-on-man but the safety roams. Tashaun Gipson might be a little too aggressive at times which could cause Crennel to change things up, but this should still be one of the top defenses in fantasy.

Players Who Best Fit the System: J.J. Watt , Jadeveon Clowney

Indianapolis Colts

Offensive Breakdown: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Now in their second season with the Colts, head coach Frank Reich and new OC Nick Sirianni, both of whom worked together back when the Chargers were in San Diego, have very similar coaching philosophies and we saw them blend very well together in 2018. We’re looking at the version of the West Coast offense we saw back when they were with the Chargers and while Reich wanted to sprinkle in some RPO last year, he pulled back, given the personnel he has to work with, primarily, Andrew Luck .  They’re expected to run the ball about 40-percent of the time with Marlon Mack leading the charge. Look for Nyheim Hines to stay in his third-down role.

On the passing front, the mid-range passing game will be the primary type of passing play we can expect to see. This would involve routes such as hitches, ins and outs, and slants and T.Y. Hilton will be the primary target. They brought in Devin Funchess to help with the vertical game, and, of course, Chester Rodgers and Parris Campbell will serve in complementary roles. Meanwhile, expect a return to the heavy 2-TE sets now that Jack Doyle is back at full health and Eric Ebron established himself as a primary red zone threat.

UPDATE 8/25: The news of Luck retiring is a huge blow to the Colts, but one they can adapt from given the two weeks prior to the season starting. They can adjust the scheme to include more RPOs to help new starter Jacoby Brissett and we should see some fine-tuning from everything they dealt with back in 2017. The good news is that the adjustments can be made on a permanent basis. In 2017 there was still belief each week Luck would play. It doesn't sound like that is the case this time around.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Andrew Luck , Marlon Mack , T.Y. Hilton

Defensive System: 4-3 with zone coverage

Defensive Breakdown: Reich did a nice job of swiping Matt Eberflus away from Dallas and the first-time DC did a fantastic job with the Colts. Eberflus actually preferred the 4-3 over the 3-4 they used in Dallas and he did outstanding work with edge-rusher Jabaal Shead. Now he’s got former Chiefs DE Justin Houston on the other side, so this pass rush can be downright nasty.

As for the secondary, they will continue to use a combination of the Cover-3 and Tampa2 zone. Pierre Desir took a nice step forward in this system last season and now they’re hoping the same can be done for rookie corner Rock Ya-Sin.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Jabaal Sheard , Justin Houston , Pierre Desir

Jacksonville Jaguars

Offensive Breakdown: Despite a disappointing season last year, GM Tom Coughlin retained Doug Marrone as his head coach, however, the two of them agreed it was necessary to change up the OC and the personnel they felt wasn’t ready to take a step forward. Goodbye, Nathaniel Hackett and Blake Bortles . Hello John DeFilippo and Nick Foles , who, funny enough, filled these same roles back when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. The Jags will continue to be a run-first team, but the passing game is going to be altered to utilize more high-percentage short-passing which will, in turn, set up bigger outside runs and longer plays downfield. They’ll likely work out of the 11-Personnel formation the most, use plenty of pre-snap motion and Foles is going to have a ton of discretion at the line. If the run doesn’t get abandoned, this offense could be an incredibly balanced and successful unit.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Nick Foles , Leonard Fournette , Dede Westbrook

Defensive System: 4-3 with a Cover-3 Zone

Defensive Breakdown: Todd Wash is expected to continue down the same path he has over the last three years and this defense is going to remain one of the top units in the league. The front four are fantastic run stopped in the middle and strong pass-rushers on the outside. The linebackers have great speed and the team should fare extremely well against the tougher run offenses. Some of the youngsters struggled a bit in zone coverage, so you may see a little more man-to-man in the secondary, but overall, the base defense will stay the same as last season.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Calais Campbell , Marcell Dareus , Jalen Ramsey , A.J. Bouye

Tennessee Titans

Offensive Breakdown: With Mike Vrabel being a defensive-minded coach, he brought in Matt LaFleur as his OC and watched as he installed a run-heavy West Coast offense with some RPOs mixed in. Marcus Mariota ’s nerve issue in his arm had them back off the RPOs and left the Titans in a pretty standard passing scheme, though they did stick with the run-first mentality. Well, LaFleur is gone, but Vrabel simply promoted TE Coach Arthur Smith and will have him run the offense. Smith is extremely inexperienced, so they are simply going to maintain the exact same scheme as last year. Expect a heavy lean on the run with short, quick passing to move the ball downfield and, hopefully, set up for some bigger plays. We’ll see the return of the RPO infusion which could help give the offense some different looks but, overall, don’t expect any dramatic differences from last season.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Marcus Mariota , Derrick Henry , Adam Humphries

Defensive System: 3-4 with a mix of man and zone coverage

Defensive Breakdown: DC Dean Pees will maintain the 3-4 base he started with last season, but again, will likely mix things up in the front with some 4-3 looks as he does like to move around his linebackers. He’s also got a reputation for creative schemes that free up his pass-rushers, so we can probably expect some strong blitzing from Cameron Wake and Harold Landry .

As for the coverage, you can expect a mix of both zone and man-coverage, depending on the speed of the receivers the team is facing. Adoree Jackson is solid in either scheme, but Malcolm Butler lacks the speed to stay with some of the faster wideouts. Strong Safety Kenny Vaccaro will do a lot of patrolling on Butler’s side.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Harold Landry , Adoree Jackson, Logan Ryan