Eight AFC South players with the most to prove in 2023

Whether it's a young player who has yet to live up to expectations or a veteran who hasn't matched the level of his contract, several players every year have much more to prove than others.

Here are the players with the most to prove on offense and defense for each team in the AFC South: 

Houston Texans

Offense: Nico Collins, WR | Houston's wide receiver depth chart is so bad that it could sign DeAndre Hopkins and still have one of the five worst WR rooms in the NFL. The good news for Collins is Houston does not have a clear-cut No. 1 wideout and a strong training camp could put him in line to be the team’s top receiver.

However, Collins has never been targeted more than 66 times in either of his two seasons or topped 500 yards receiving or had more than two TD receptions in a season. Robert Woods has more experience, rookie Take Dell already has some chemistry with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, and if second-year receiver John Metchie is fully recovered from leukemia, he could be a dark horse top-two WR for Houston.

Defense: Derek Stingley Jr., CB | Yes, the Texans have 10 cornerbacks on their roster heading into training camp, but the situation is more quantity over quality. While Shaquill Griffin and Desmond King are fine depth options, the pressure is clearly on Stingley Jr. to perform like a top-three draft pick in 2023. 

Picked one spot ahead of 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner, Stingley Jr. did not have the kind of impact on the Texans that Gardner had on the Jets. Stingley Jr. was limited to just nine games, recording only one interception and four pass breakups. He will need to lower his completion percentage allowed (67.3) and yards per reception allowed (12.5) if Houston is going to trust him to shadow the opposing team’s top receiver. 

Indianapolis Colts

Offense: Bernhard Raimann, LT | Raimann played the fewest snaps of any Colts starting offensive lineman last season, but he allowed the most sacks (seven) and surrendered 27 hurries and 16 pressures.

For rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson to succeed, the Colts must keep him upright. Indianapolis drafted two tackles in the 2023 draft — BYU’s Blake Freeland in Round 4 and Northern Michigan’s Jake Witt in Round 7 — so if Richardson is taking unnecessary hits early in the season, don’t be surprised to see Raimann yanked pretty quickly.

Defense: Kenny Moore II, CB | With Isaiah Rodgers released after his suspension for gambling, Moore II is the most experienced cornerback on Indy’s roster, though most of his action has come in nickel packages.

Five of the nine CBs on the roster are rookies, and the ones who aren’t (Moore II, Tony Brown and Kevin Toliver II) have 14 interceptions and 58 passes defensed among them, with Moore II accounting for all the interceptions and 48 passes defensed. Fortunately, Moore II has 87 games of experience and 2,869 coverage snaps to fall back on. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

Offense: Calvin Ridley, WR | All reports out of Jaguars camp indicate that Ridley looks impressive after sitting out the entire 2022 season while serving a suspension for gambling. And if he’s anywhere near the caliber of WR he was during the 2020 season in Atlanta (90 receptions, 1,374 yards, nine touchdowns), the Jaguars got a steal of a No. 1 receiver for just a fourth- and fifth-round pick.

The downside is Ridley turns 29 in December, and he hasn’t played a down in the NFL since October 2021. If he’s not the same player he was before his suspension, he will likely spend the rest of his career as a depth option at receiver. There’s a lot riding on the 2023 season for the former Alabama star.

Defense: Josh Allen, OLB | After a 10.5-sack rookie season in 2019, Allen appeared to be the premier pass-rusher Jacksonville had been searching for. However, he was limited to 2.5 sacks in eight games in his second year, and he hasn’t had more than 7.5 sacks in either of the past two seasons.

While there’s no denying Allen gets into the backfield, as evidenced by his 127 combined pressures, 82 hurries and 30 hits over the past two seasons, he must start turning those pressures into sacks if he wants to land a big-money, long-term contract. 

Tennessee Titans

Offense: Andre Dillard, LT | With Nicholas Petit-Frere’s six-game suspension for gambling, the Titans are even thinner at offensive tackle once the regular season begins, making it vitally important that Dillard can lock down the left tackle job. A first-round pick in 2019, Dillard is 27 with just nine games of starting experience in the NFL. 

If he doesn’t pan out, the Titans could be forced to do some shuffling along their offensive line, perhaps moving 2023 first-rounder Peter Skoronski from left guard. Offensive line is already the Titans' thinnest position, and they can’t afford to have to go to the well once more to plug another hole.

Defense: Caleb Farley, CB | Another one of former general manager Jon Robinson’s injury gambles, Farley could be on borrowed time. Head coach Mike Vrabel appeared really down on the former No. 22 overall pick last season before he had season-ending back surgery, benching him during a handful of games in favor of players signed off other teams' practice squads.

In two seasons, Farley has played in just 12 games with two starts and registered only one pass defensed with zero interceptions. With Kristian Fulton and Roger McCreary firmly entrenched as the team’s top two cornerbacks and the addition of free-agent signing Sean Murphy-Bunting during the offseason, Farley is at best No. 4 on the depth chart, and he may be behind Tre Avery or Chris Jackson, too.