Vacated targets are an important thing to look at year over year in fantasy football. This is the third in a series of articles reviewing each team’s vacated targets and the general narrative around what that might mean for 2019 production. Last week, we covered the AFC North. This week, we turn our attention to the AFC South.
2019 Fantasy Football AFC South
Houston Texans – Vacated Targets: 118 / 24%
The Houston Texans finished atop the AFC South last season and are in line to battle for the crown again this year. The only real players they lost that got a noteworthy amount of targets are wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who is now with the New England Patriots, backup running back Alfred Blue, who is now with the division rival Jacksonville Jaguars, and tight end Ryan Griffin, who is now a free agent after punching a window during draft weekend.
While Thomas could be seen as a viable fantasy departure, an Achilles injury ended his season early and therefore limited the targets he received anyway. For the most part, the Texans offense should look very similar to last year, which should help them as they try to repeat.
One of the bright spots in the Texans outlook for 2019 is that they get wide receivers Keke Coutee and Will Fuller both back to the starting lineup. Hopefully, they can stay healthy for an extended amount of time this year. Last season, Coutee missed 10 games and only saw 41 targets as a result. Fuller missed nine games after seeing 45 targets, leaving star receiver DeAndre Hopkins to gobble up the majority of what they left behind. Hopkins would go on to see a whopping 163 targets by the end of the season.
Look for Coutee and Fuller to increase their target totals and for Hopkins to reduce his accordingly. Also, rookie TE Kahale Warring could battle the incumbent TE for targets, but I wouldn’t bet on him getting too many unless injuries force him into the lineup. Rookie tight ends don’t generally produce immediately.
Indianapolis Colts – Vacated Targets: 105 / 17%
Quarterback Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts also bring back a majority of their target receivers from 2018. They lost wide receivers Ryan Grant and Dontrelle Inman to the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots, respectively, but that’s about it. Neither of those players were stars on the offense and Luck is notorious for preferring tight ends anyway. So it’s not shocking to say that this offense should be able to keep it up in 2019.
Even though they didn’t lose many targets there are a couple of players that could see an increase this year. One of which is TE Jack Doyle, who missed 10 games due to injury and only received 33 targets. Look for Doyle to siphon some of Eric Ebron‘s 110 targets as Luck spreads the ball around. On top of that, look for newly signed WR Devin Funchess and rookie Parris Campbell to also pick up some of the slack. They give Luck some new weapons to go along with veteran stalwart T.Y. Hilton down the field again. The Colts offense as a whole will be a favorable one for fantasy football owners to target.
Tennessee Titans – Vacated Targets: 28 / 7%
Despite only throwing the ball 425 times in 2018, the Tennessee Titans finished third in their division and shouldn’t see a lot of change on the offense. Of course, that will all hinge on whether or not they decide to give RB Derrick Henry the ball more and whether or not QB Marcus Mariota can perform at a high level again. The small number of targets lost from TE Luke Stocker and WR Rishard Matthews should be easy to replace, given the fact that they weren’t really considered fantasy football impact players in 2018 in most circles.
That being said, the Titans do have two big pieces that should make more of an impact this year. They will get veteran TE Delanie Walker back, who was injured in Week 2. Following his injury, Walker is a popular bounce-back candidate among fantasy football tight ends that can be taken in the late rounds of fantasy drafts. In addition, the Colts added rookie WR A.J. Brown in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Both of these players should see their fair share of targets in 2019, likely taking some away from RB Dion Lewis and WR Corey Davis. Look for Walker to become Mariota’s favorite target again and for Brown to settle in and learn the offense, as he challenges Davis for the WR1 spot.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Vacated Targets: 257 / 49%
Easily the biggest change in an offense of this division goes to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars lost a huge amount of targets when they released running backs Carlos Hyde, T.J. Yeldon, and Corey Grant, along with TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, and WR Donte Moncrief. These players all combined for over 200 targets last season. This offense is clearly scrapping what they have and starting over. Given their disappointing 5-11 record in 2018 that definitely makes a lot of sense.
Wide receiver Marqise Lee has the opportunity to be the Jaguars biggest impact player to receive targets in 2019. Lee will be returning after missing all of the 2018 season after an injury in the preseason forced him to miss the year. He’s slotted to be the WR1 so he could easily see half of the vacated targets himself, as long as he stays healthy.
In addition, look for newly signed players TE Geoff Swaim and RB Alfred Blue to step in and make waves. Rising receivers Dede Westbrook, Keelan Cole, and DJ Chark, should all see a considerable boost as well. Jacksonville receivers have not normally been on the radar of fantasy football players, but this year has the potential to be different.
This offense is built for the long ball, let’s just hope new QB Nick Foles can get the job done. This team is going to be wild to watch this year, mark my words.
Hit us up on twitter @PFN365 with your thoughts on who will get the lions share of vacated targets for each team. Also, continue to visit the Pro Football Network for NFL news and in-depth analysis while also visiting our new Fantasy Football section.
Andrew Hall is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can follow him @AndrewHallFF on Twitter.