It has been a little over a month since we last had any football action. However, that hasn’t stopped the NFL offseason from being an exciting one. The NFL Combine is over, and as teams continue to evaluate the talent at their disposal, the rosters are undergoing quite a change.
Free agency and trades have been huge this offseason, with several big-name players making moves. The coaching carousel has also been fun to follow, and it all points to an enthralling few months before the start of the new season, come September.
But there is still plenty to do in the offseason. The 2026 NFL draft will be the biggest event remaining. Nevertheless, with all the changes going on, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at the early odds for the AFC South division winners.
2025-26 AFC South Recap
To better understand the odds for the winner of the AFC South in the upcoming season, it is essential to have a quick glance at the season that just concluded. We start off with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had an excellent first season under head coach Liam Coen. They went on to compile a 13-4 record but lost at home in the Wild Card round to the Bills.
Next up, the Houston Texans got off to a terrible start, going 3-5 after Week 9, but then knocked off 9 straight wins to finish the season 12-5. The Texans’ season came to an end against the Patriots in tricky conditions in the Divisional round.
The Colts were a massive letdown after starting the season in sensational fashion. They were 8-2 heading into the Week 11 bye week and then ended up dropping all their remaining games to finish 8-9 on the year.
As for Tennessee, it was yet another season of struggles. Despite drafting QB Cam Ward with the number one overall pick, the overall balance of the roster was not good enough. The Titans finished with a 3-14 record to come last in the division.
AFC South Division Winner Odds 2026-27
The Houston Texans are the current frontrunners with the best odds to clinch the AFC South divisional crown for the 2026-27 NFL season, as per the odds on FanDuel. The table below represents the latest division winner odds for the AFC South ahead of the upcoming season.
2026-27 AFC South Key Changes, Strength of Schedule, and Draft
Here, we will have a glance at some of the key offseason changes that have taken place up to now, along with the strength of schedule and draft picks for the AFC South teams for the upcoming season.
Key Offseason Changes
The Texans have been busy in the offseason. They traded OT Tytus Howard to the Browns and signed Braden Smith as his replacement. Further, the addition of G Evan Brown is seen as an improvement to the O-line.
Houston let go of RB Joe Mixon, but signed former Lion, David Montgomery, in his place. The secondary sees the addition of a former Super Bowl winner with the Eagles, safety Reed Blankenship.
The Jaguars have been busy extending and restructuring contracts during the offseason, but their biggest loss is that of running back Travis Etienne Jr. His void is filled by the acquisition of Chris Rodriguez, but Bhayshul Tuten is now seen as the premier back on the roster. Duval County has also lost LB Devin Lloyd and S Andrew Wingard.
Over to Indianapolis, where the Colts have done well to extend QB Daniel Jones for another 2 years and WR Alec Pierce for 4 more years. Speaking of wide receiver, Pierce is set to take on the WR1 role as the Colts cleared cap space by trading Michael Pittman Jr. to the Steelers. Other changes include the signings of edge rusher Arden Key, DE Micheal Clemons, and DT Derrick Nnadi to bolster the defensive line and to add depth.
In Tennessee, the offseason began with the hiring of Robert Saleh and Brian Daboll as the new head coach and offensive coordinator, respectively. But that was just the start, as the Titans have made several roster moves as well.
The Titans traded for DE Jermaine Johnson and DT Solomon Thomas while adding John Franklin-Myers, Jordan Elliott, and Malik Herring to bolster the defensive line. They also added to the secondary by signing cornerback duo Cor’Dale Flott and Alontae Taylor.
Wan’Dale Robinson signed a 4-year deal to join the receiver room, and Calvin Ridley’s contract was restructured. The Titans did let go of cornerback L’Jarius Sneed as injuries led to him underperforming.
Strength of Schedule
The strength of schedule for all the AFC South teams is quite easy for the upcoming 2026-27 season. As a matter of fact, the first team with the toughest schedule from the division is the Jaguars (.490), who have the 22nd hardest schedule in the league.
The Titans (.476) and the Texans (.474) are right behind one another. These two teams have the 8th and 7th-easiest schedules for the upcoming season. The Colts (.465) are the team with the easiest schedule in the AFC South, and they also have the 4th-easiest schedule in the league.
Coming to the draft picks, the Texans hold a total of 8 selections in the upcoming 2026 NFL draft. Although the number of draft picks is not too high, Houston’s advantage is 4 selections inside the top 70. The Texans’ first-round pick comes at 28 overall, followed by picks 38 and 59 in round 2, and pick number 69 in round 3.
The Jaguars have a grand total of 11 picks this year, but they currently hold no round one selection, having given that up to the Browns during last year’s draft. They will be on the clock for the first time in round 2 with the 56th overall pick. That is followed by a busy round 3 in which they hold the 81st, 88th, and 100th overall picks.
Similar to the Jaguars, the Colts are also without a first-round pick this time around. They have only 7 selections as of now, and their first pick will be the 47th overall pick in round 2, and their second one coming in round 3 with pick number 78.
As for the Titans, they hold 9 draft picks in the 2026 NFL draft and are well-positioned with the 4th overall pick, the 35th overall pick in round 2, and the 66th overall pick in round 3. All these picks are at the start of each round.
Early prediction: Based on how the previous season unfolded, the current updated rosters, and overall schedule, we feel the Texans will be back at the top of the AFC South in the 2026-27 NFL season.
(The above odds are sourced from FanDuel. Use FanDuel to ace your betting game in all sports!)
I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!
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