2025 First Fantasy Football Thoughts: AFC/NFC South

by Michael Nazarek - 7/23/2025

Most training camps are starting this week, so it's time to take a closer look at the South Division teams to see how things are shaping up...

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans: The Texans won their division again in 2024, but failed to make the big game. Third-year QB C.J. Stroud regressed in his sophomore season, mostly due to poor offensive line blocking and injuries at wideout. He returns as the starter, but now is a decent QB2 for fantasy this year, but he still has some potential to be a top 12 QB down the road. In the running game, RB Joe Mixon (ankle) returns, but is not 100% entering camp. In addition, RB Nick Chubb was signed to boost the RB corps. That said, how much he has left in the tank is in question. RB Dameon Pierce returns for depth, while the team drafted RB Woody Marks in April. In fantasy terms, Mixon is now more of a RB2 for fantasy than RB1. If you draft Mixon, it's smart to also draft Chubb for insurance. In the passing game, WR Nico Collins returns as the clear WR1 for the team and elite WR1 for fantasy in 2025. Third-year WR Tank Dell (knee) will more than likely miss the 2025 season, as the team drafted WR Jayden Higgins and WR Jaylin Noel in April. The team also acquired WR Christian Kirk from the Jaguars this off-season. Kirk will play out of the slot, while Higgins is likely to fill the WR3 in the passing game. Both Kirk and Higgins have interesting sleeper value for fantasy. WR Xavier Hutchinson and WR John Metchie return for depth. At tight end, TE Dalton Schultz returns to start, and is anything but an impressive producer for fantasy in this offense, keeping him only a decent TE2 in 2025. TE Brevin Jordan and TE Cade Stover return for depth. PK Ka'imi Fairbairn returns as the kicker, and is a top 5 PK for fantasy this season once again.

 

Indianapolis Colts: The rest of this article can be found in our Pre-Season Draft Guide. If you'd like to read it, please click HERE to order our annual premium product!

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