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The Houston Texans have gotten a lot of praise for fourth-round pick Jared Crick, a defensive end out of Nebraska.

In his final Insider file assessing early impact players out of the draft, Mel Kiper Jr. looks at the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds that has Crick as Kiper's lone entry from the AFC South.

Houston spent the 126th overall selection on Crick, the defensive lineman out of Nebraska

Writes Kiper:

He's not J.J. Watt, but Crick could be used the same way in Wade Phillips' scheme. Undersized for an NFL 4-3 DT, I see Crick using his quickness as a penetrating 3-4 DE (though it's hard to classify positions in Phillips' system in truly conventional terms). I once had a first-round grade on Crick. He landed in the fourth round only because of a laundry list of recent injuries -- though he did start every game in 2009 and 2010. He could be a steal if he can stay on the field.

The Texans have Watt and Antonio Smith as their base ends. Smith kicks inside in nickel situations when at least one of the outside linebackers creeps forward as a functionally a defensive end.

As first-round pick Whitney Mercilus gives the team a third quality outside linebacker, Crick should give them a third quality end.

The Houston Texans were fortunate once Mario Williams went down last year.

Connor Barwin and rookie Brooks Reed played too much, but they didn’t just hold up, they excelled. The two outside linebackers in the first-year 3-4 scheme were keys to a consistently swarming pass rush.

They’ll get some relief from the team’s first-round draft pick, Illinois’ Whitney Mercilus. Listed as a defensive end by most, he’s an outside 'backer for Houston.

The Texans thrived largely because of their pass rush in 2011, as they won the AFC South and made the playoffs for the first time. Enhancing the pass rush is never a bad thing.

Undoubtedly, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips endorsed the pick. And he nudged the front office in a good direction last year when J.J. Watt and Reed were the first two picks.

Based on that recent record, I’m inclined to be just fine with this decision, especially with Kendall Wright gone.

The Texans hope to re-sign Barwin, but he’s a year away from free agency and there is no guarantee they are able to keep him. So Mercilus will serve as insurance for that loss, too.

It's a smart brand of roster building that can be beneficial both now and later.

With the departure of Peyton Manning and Mario Williams, the AFC South lost two overall No. 1 picks.

The loss of star power led me to wonder about what our teams have left in terms of high-ranking draft picks, and how they compare to one another and the rest of the league.

John McTigue of ESPN Stats & Information looked at the average draft slot of the top 10 highest-drafted players -- how ever deep that goes beyond the first round -- still on each team.

Obviously, where a team drafts is based on how it finishes. Certainly higher draft picks hardly guarantee successful choices. But if you’ve got higher picks, you’ve got a better chance of hitting.

As the chart at right shows, all four AFC South teams fall below the league average of 35.1: The Texans are at 35.4, the Jaguars 38.1, the Titans 39.3 and the Colts 46.8.

The Texans and Colts clearly suffer from losing Williams and Manning. The Jaguars have only four home-grown first-rounders on their team after a bunch of busts. The Titans' number inflates because Adam Jones and Vince Young didn’t stick around. The Colts have been consistently good, so they’ve consistently drafted late. Their averages are about to rise.

As the chart below shows, the top 10 highest-drafted players still in the AFC South average a draft spot of 11.1. The only division whose top 10 remaining home-grown draft picks were selected at a worse average position is the NFC East (13.9).

It's interesting that first-rounders remaining were drafted, on average, inside the top 12.

Last year, when Bill Polian was still running the Colts, he said he expected a higher hit rate when picking before and after 12th through a draft.

“I think you have to divide it into top 12 and bottom 20," he said. "If you’re in the top 12, it ought to be in the .640 range. That’s about 4.5 guys on average per year out of the seven. You measure that at the end of three years and what you are measuring is whether or not those guys become winning players, guys that contribute to wins. Bottom 20 is .571, that’s four out of seven."

Keith Hawkins of ESPN Stats & Info limited his search to the average draft position of first-rounders remaining with the team that drafted them (chart at right). This seems less telling to me as you eliminate first-rounders who busted, and first-rounders who have left.

Buffalo’s the high at 7.7, the Giants are the low at 25.2.

Jacksonville comes in at 14.0, Houston at 15.0, Tennessee at 19.4 and Indianapolis at 24.2.

Here are the top draft guys in the division now, pending the Colts' pick at No. 1, and the Jaguars' pick at No. 7.

• Texans receiver Andre Johnson, third overall
• Titans quarterback Jake Locker, eighth
• Jaguars left tackle Eugene Monroe, eighth
• Jaguars defensive tackle Tyson Alualu, 10th
• Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert, 10th
• Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney, 11th
• Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, 11th
• Texans inside linebacker Brian Cushing, 15th
• Titans defensive end Derrick Morgan, 16th
• Titans safety Michael Griffin, 19th

DeMeco Ryans was due a $5.9 million base salary this season.

It’s Philadelphia’s salary to pay now.

The Texans dealt the inside linebacker to the Eagles. In return they get Philadelphia’s fourth-round draft choice in 2012, the fourth overall pick in the round that originally belonged to Tampa Bay. The Eagles and Texans also swapped third-round choices, with the Texans climbing from the 89th overall pick to the 77th pick in the draft.

Texans general manager Rick Smith issued this statement:

“DeMeco Ryans contributed significantly toward helping us build the foundation we hope will bring a world championship to the city of Houston. His professionalism and leadership cannot be over-exaggerated. This move was mutually beneficial for the Texans immediate and long-term goals, DeMeco’s career, and the Philadelphia Eagles. We appreciate all the hard work and effort DeMeco invested in our organization and wish him only the best moving forward. He is a class act.”

While fans surely feel an emotional attachment to Ryans, a quality player who was a great spokesman for the franchise, they should understand the move.

Ryans played only 58.23 percent of the Texans' defensive plays last season, a year after he missed the Texans’ final 10 games following shredding an Achilles tendon.

Darryl Sharpton was cutting into Ryans’ snaps before he missed the final eight games of last season after suffering a right knee/hamstring injury.

Sharpton was a fourth-round draft pick out of Miami in 2010. If he’s healthy, Sharpton is a young player the team will feel comfortable plugging in this fall beside Brian Cushing on base defense downs.

The move doesn’t do anything to alleviate the team’s cap issues. It actually will cost Houston $750,000 this year. While Ryans was due the large base salary, he had $9 million left of a prorated signing bonus that moves to this year with the trade. He will be off the Texans' books next year.

They also need options for the right side of their line, where they cut tackle Eric Winston and watched guard Mike Brisiel go to Oakland as a free agent.

Those two and Ryans makes for three starters lost from the defending AFC South champs.

Two of his teammates spoke to Sirius XM NFL Radio.

• Antonio Smith: “It’s a big surprise to me. I don’t know what is going on at this moment but DeMeco is a great player, a leader. He’s going to be an asset to each and every team he plays for. … Our defense is going to miss him. That’s all I can say about it. I’m not in agreeance with it.”
• J.J. Watt: “DeMeco by far and away [is] the most respected guy on the defense, our leader. He’s a guy that everybody turns to especially when things are going tough. It’s tough to see him go, but at the end of the day, what can we do? He’s obviously going to go play great football for the Eagles. Now it’s time for the rest of us as a defense to step up and find a new leader and go out there and play football. We can’t do anything about that so it’s time for us to go out there and do it on our own.”

INDIANAPOLIS — With the NFL scouting combine under way, a look at some storylines that will develop at Lucas Oil Stadium and the meeting rooms in the Indiana Convention Center.

Hello Mr. Luck: Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was here briefly during Super Bowl week for a Gatorade promotion. But his podium session Friday will be viewed as the first of many times he will dissect his play at LOS, which everyone expects will become his home stadium when the Colts draft him first overall at the end of April.

Will the Jaguars fall in love with Quinton Coples? A year ago, virtually every analyst had the Jaguars taking defensive end Ryan Kerrigan in the first round. And that’s what they would have done if they had not jumped up with a trade to take Blaine Gabbert. Now it looks like the team will be paired with North Carolina defensive end Couples. Do the Jags develop the same affection for him that they did for Kerrigan a year ago?

Barron’s health: Mark Barron is recovering from double hernia surgery. Does the lack of field work here and at the Crimson Tide’s pro day affect his draft stock? And can that be a positive thing for the safety-needy Titans, who pick 20th and would have to consider him if he lasted that long? After Barron, the position doesn't offer a great deal in the draft.

Houston’s needs: The Texans are the least likely team in the division to add a significant outsider in free agency, because they have salary-cap issues. Their draft needs could be shaped by what happens with their own pending free agents. If Mario Williams leaves, they’ll need another outside linebacker for their 3-4. If Chris Myers gets away, center becomes an issue. But more than anyone in the division, the Texans should set up to be able to draft the best players they see. Being unpressured by a giant need is always somewhat of a relief.

Learning philosophies: Colts general manager Ryan Grigson and coach Chuck Pagano have been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work to get their house in order and lay the groundwork for their plans. We should start to learn more about their philosophy and intentions in the coming days. How far can they take a hybrid 3-4 in the first year? What will an offense under a new staff look like? And what kind of players here can make those schemes go?

The influence of Khan: Jacksonville general manager Gene Smith is now preparing for his first draft with a new boss. Shahid Khan has said he’s all in, so the Jaguars could do some significant spending in free agency before the draft arrives. If Smith was lacking in any resources before, such things should not be an issue now.

Webster’s influence: A year ago, Ruston Webster had a big influence over the Titans' draft, and it produced a very good looking class. Now Webster has been promoted to general manager. So this draft won’t only have his fingerprints on it, it’ll have his signature on it. He’s a highly respected personnel man who appears to be a steady, methodical guy who can find productive people who fit what Mike Munchak and his staff want to do.

Phillips’ opinions: In his first year as the Texans' defensive coordinator, Wade Phillips had a big influence on the Texans' draft. End J.J. Watt and outside linebacker Brooks Reed were giant contributors in their rookie seasons. The Texans showed great defensive depth, but can still stock up help at every level of the defense. Can Phillips help general manager Rick Smith and the front office tab a few more top-flight contributors?

Thin spots: Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. says he sees safety as the thinnest overall position and offensive line as less than stellar. That’s bad for Tennessee and Indianapolis as both teams need help at both spots. That’s good for Houston and Jacksonville, which did good work filling safety spots in 2011 and won’t have a lot of offensive line work, though the Jaguars' pass protection needs to improve.

Who played the most on defense in the AFC South in 2011?

Here’s a rundown, with percentage of defensive snaps played:

DE – Jeremy Mincey, Jaguars, 93.5

DE – J.J. Watt, Texans, 77.37

DT – Tyson Alualu, Jaguars, 83.74

DT – Jurrell Casey, Titans, 58.24

MLB – Paul Posluszny, Jaguars, 95.57

ILB – Brian Cushing, Texans, 93.32

OLB – Connor Barwin, Texans, 94.92

OLB – Pat Angerer, Colts, 93.11

FS – Michael Griffin, Titans, 99.91

SS – Dawan Landry, Jaguars, 99.61

CB – Cortland Finnegan, Titans, 100

CB – Johnathan Joseph, Texans, 89.13

Some notes:

Posluszny resents that he was labeled as injury prone as he left Buffalo as a free agent. He did get hurt, but the shoulder problem that needed surgery didn’t occur until the Jaguars’ finale.

Griffin missed one snap of the 1,123 defensive snaps the Titans played. Like Finnegan, the lone defender in the division not to miss a single play, he’s heading for unrestricted free agency.

Landry missed just four of 1,015 snaps for Jacksonville. Houston’s Glover Quin was close at 98.7 percent.

Mincey is a great effort player, who is heading for free agency. He could probably benefit from at least a little bit less playing time, with more energy to offer on pass-rush snaps.

Alualu played the fourth-highest percentage of snaps for a defensive tackle for anyone in the league. That’s a lot considering he was working with a bum right knee.

Houston

The best season in Texans history keeps paying dividends -- receiver Andre Johnson and defensive end J.J. Watt will be the grand marshals of the upcoming Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Downtown Parade.

Indianapolis

Les Carpenter (Yahoo! Sports) says Peyton Manning should simply retire. "Before he wanders into a hopeless future with a bad arm, he should wonder what is left in a career that can’t get any better."

The Colts have added depth, signing a defensive end and a defensive back.

Jacksonville

Here is a scouting report on a potential draft pick for the Jaguars.

The Jaguars’ new strength and conditioning staff isn’t putting all of its emphasis on the weight room.

Tennessee

The Titans have agreed to terms with tackle Mike Otto on a multi-year contract. Otto has played in 41 games during his five-year career with Tennessee.

INDIANAPOLIS -- No, rookie sensation J.J. Watt is not hurt.

That’s what I thought when I first saw him on radio row, talking with a Houston Station. He had straps over both shoulders and something up alongside his head coming from his back.

Upon further inspection, I discovered it wasn’t any sort of brace, it was a contraption designed for him to film his interactions at the Super Bowl.

“I’m with Gatorade and we’re doing some filming so fans can go on Gatorade’s Facebook page and get some behinds the scenes stuff and see what it’s like to be an athlete at radio row,” he said.

Among his highlights: A talk with Miss America, Laura Kaeppeler. She’s from Wisconsin and famously asked for a call from Aaron Rodgers after she was crowned.

She hasn’t gotten one, but Watt, who played at Wisconsin, said he’d be happy to fill-in.

“We’re talking,” he said. “We’re may to try to meet up, so we’ll see.”

Monday we presented the All AFC-South offense. Today we move to defense and special teams.

I felt like there was a worthy candidate at every spot, and beyond wrestling with choosing between Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis for a defensive end spot, I didn’t have any gigantic struggles.

To accommodate the personnel of the 3-4 Texans along with the 4-3 Colts, Texans and Titans, we created a 12-man defense with four linemen and four linebackers. It seemed like a fair approach to me that stops short of bastardizing the team.

DEs: Houston rookie J.J. Watt was a giant presence from the start, serving as a key piece of the team’s revamped front. He was easily the division’s rookie of the year. Mathis gets the nod over Freeney but it could have gone either way. They both had fewer chances because teams threw less against them, but remained quite effective.

DTs: Antonio Smith of the Texans played end in base and tackle in nickel and his versatility was really highlighted in the 3-4 system. Casey was not at a similar level, but the Titans rookie was a stout and reliable run-stopper.

OLBs: The Jaguars were stacked at linebacker thanks to their free-agent shopping. On an upgraded defense, Daryl Smith really got to show himself a fine player. In Houston, Connor Barwin blossomed into an 11.5-sack guy who was constantly around the quarterback.

ILBs: Brian Cushing was a terror for the Texans, proving an excellent fit as an inside backer for Wade Phillips. At his best, he was something to behold. The same can be said for Jacksonville’s Paul Posluszny. He gave the Jaguars everything they were looking for in terms of production and leadership as a free-agent acquisition.

CBs: Houston’s Johnathan Joseph was the AFC South MVP in my eyes. The Texans hit a home run by adding Joseph, a settling force in the secondary who played sticky coverage all season. Tennessee’s Cortland Finnegan didn’t produce on the same level, but his willingness and ability to shift inside and play a physical brand of nickel was a positive factor for the Titans' defense.

S: The Texans' move of Glover Quin from nickel corner to strong safety worked out beautifully and they are trend-setters in terms of having guys with corner skills playing in the middle of the field. He was steady and productive. Dwight Lowery showed good smarts and awareness for the Jaguars at a spot that was a huge hole the previous season. Signing him will be a priority.

K: Rob Bironas of the Titans missed just three field goals all season. While Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee missed only two, he tried fewer. And Bironas had a division-high 44 touchbacks

P: The Colts' Pat McAfee gets the edge over the Titans' Brett Kern in a very close race. Punting out of trouble was more important more often for Indianapolis, and McAfee’s net average was hurt by less than stellar coverage but shouldn’t offset his slightly bigger leg.

PR, KR: There was no outstanding work done in these spots for anyone in the division, so we pretty much go chalk. Tennessee punt returner Marc Mariani led in punt return average and Jacksonville kick returner Deji Karim led the division in kick return average.

ST: Kassim Osgood of the Jaguars continued to be a top guy in coverage work.

Rivers McCown of Football Outsiders looks at the big risers and fallers in terms of under-25-year old talent.

He breaks down the contribution teams got from guys who fit the bill, factoring in quarterback talent, track record for developing young guys and adding weight to prime players involved in the passing game.

The AFC South has a team among the risers and the fallers.

Here’s what McCown said on each.

Riser -- Houston Texans

When a team overcomes a significant number of injuries and still goes 10-6, it's a pretty good sign that they've accumulated good young depth. While Arian Foster graduated from the list, the Texans just shrugged and replaced him with Ben Tate, who finished 10th in the NFL in DYAR (defense-adjusted yards above replacement) despite not seeing significant playing time after Foster's hamstring healed up. When Matt Schaub went down, T.J. Yates, notwithstanding his performance against Baltimore in the divisional round, looked like a credible NFL quarterback for the majority of his snaps. Mario Williams done for the year? No problem: The Texans' top two picks from the 2011 draft, J.J. Watt and Brooks Reed, combined for 11.5 sacks and 15 quarterback hits as they successfully papered over the loss of Williams. If that wasn't enough, they also have Brian Cushing -- probably one of the five best inside linebackers in the NFL."

Faller -- Jacksonville Jaguars

"Blaine Gabbert may yet become a good NFL quarterback, but he showed absolutely no sign that he would in his rookie year. This wasn't a "learning experience," where he got off to a poor start and played better down the stretch: Gabbert was truly lost and numb to pocket pressure from start to finish. He had a DYAR of minus-825 this season, the worst of any quarterback. In fact, you need to go all the way back to Alex Smith's rookie season in 2005 to find a worse DYAR for a quarterback. Mike Thomas is a useful second receiver stuck on a bad passing offense. Will Rackley, Eben Britton and Eugene Monroe are all cornerstones of a line that can run block with the best of them, but they all struggle in pass protection. Tyson Alualu is a credible defensive tackle, but not really the kind of superstar you're hoping to find with the 10th overall pick. Other than those six, the Jaguars are essentially barren when it comes to young talent. General manager Gene Smith will have to reward new owner Shahid Khan's patience quickly in this upcoming draft, because he doesn't have much to fall back on at this point."

Many NFL awards have been doled out, but I know the top players from the division still await our All-AFC South Team.

So it’s time to set about putting it together.

Here you’ll see my initial sketch of the team. The players I’ve added, in my eyes, are unquestionably worthy of spots on the team. Debate their presence if you are so compelled.

But I am most interested in your help filling in the blanks.

Last year showed I am willing to leave a spot blank if we don’t have a quality person to insert into the lineup.

The Texans’ change to a 3-4 defensive front provided a new wrinkle. My solution? We make the defense 12-players deep, with four linemen and four linebackers. That allows us to mix the personnel of three 4-3 fronts with the Texans’ 3-4 front and come out with a satisfactory team.

In my eyes, with apologies to the Colts' Pat Angerer, the linebacker slots are fairly easy to fill.

You can have significant influence over my thinking as the final team is formulated. As of now, I intend to post it on Friday.

So hop into comments here and make a case for your man. Or men. Thanks in advance for your part in it.

We’ll wait until next week to start building the All-AFC South Team, and you’ll have a big chance to offer input there.

This week we’ll pass out hardware for individual awards.

Drum roll please:

Player of the year: Johnathan Joseph, Texans cornerback. Runner up: Brian Cushing, Texans inside linebacker.

Joseph, Cushing and Antonio Smith were the players I sorted through here, and you can make a case for any of them. While the Texans were a better defense at every level, it was the secondary that had the biggest room for improvement. Joseph’s ability to match up with a team’s best receiver eased the pressure on everyone else in the secondary and helped transform a miserable pass defense into an excellent one. In the Texans’ playoff loss in Baltimore he blanketed Ravens receiver Torrey Smith, rendering him a non-factor.

Offensive player of the year: Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars running back. Runner up: Arian Foster, Texans running back.

It’s hard to fathom that Jones-Drew was the NFL rushing champ considering that defenses could regularly key on him without fear of any real threat from the passing offense, which ranked dead last in the NFL. He showed no signs of wearing down and averaged 100 yards a game. It felt like a waste on a five-win team. Foster missed some action early with hamstring issues or he would have likely challenged Jones-Drew in rushing yards. He’s a tremendous combination of power and speed and does excellent work as a pass catcher.

Rookie of the year: J.J. Watt, Texans defensive end. Runner up: Brooks Reed, Texans outside linebacker.

Watt was installed as a starter the moment the Texans drafted him and was an impactful player from his first snap. A relentless player, he was a force against the run and the pass and played beautifully in concert with the rest of the defensive front. His ability to get his hands on balls at the line of scrimmage turned into a monumental interception return for a touchdown in the playoff win over Cincinnati. Reed filled in very well after Mario Williams was lost for the season and may actually help the team decide Williams is expendable.

Best assistant coach: Wade Phillips, Texans defensive coordinator. Runner up, Mel Tucker, Jaguars defensive coordinator.

Phillips was a factor in the personnel decisions that brought Joseph, Danieal Manning, Watt and Reed into the fold for Houston. In his first year as defensive coordinator, he injected a huge dose of confidence into the Texans defenders and wisely drew up schemes that featured guys’ strengths and marked their weaknesses. The sort of turnaround the defense made in one year is practically unheard of. In Jacksonville, Tucker was given a huge boost with new personnel, but as he took over play-calling from Jack Del Rio, he excelled.

Best position coach: Dave Ragone, Titans receivers coach. Runner up, Vance Joseph, Texans secondary coach.

Ragone had no experience working with receivers coming into this job, but did fantastic work. He deserves a great deal of credit for the vast improvement and maturation of Nate Washington and the emergence of Damian Williams as a threat and Lavelle Hawkins as a guy who did some good things with the ball in his hands. In his first season with the Texans, Joseph helped some guys regain confidence while overseeing a successful move of Glover Quin from corner to strong safety.

Executive of the year: Rick Smith, Texans general manager.

He had lots of help, but completely nailed free agency, signing Joseph and Manning rather than Nnamdi Asomugha. And the top of the draft was fantastic, with Watt and Reed. As Houston suffered injuries at running back, receiver, linebacker and even punter, the Texans showed good depth and an ability to fill in holes with quality outsiders.

Best unit: Texans offensive line. Runner up: Texans linebackers.

Led by center Chris Myers, who may be the division’s most unsung player, Houston’s offensive line blocked consistently well for the run game and protected three different quarterbacks well. Left tackle Duane Brown and right tackle Eric Winston both earned mentions on various All-Pro teams. Antoine Caldwell filled in nicely when Mike Brisiel missed time at right guard. The Texans linebackers, even without Mario Williams, did spectacular, work stuffing the run and swarming quarterbacks all season long.

Worst unit: Jaguars receivers. Runner up: Colts cornerbacks.

Mike Thomas might be a No. 2 receiver and can certainly be a good No. 3, though his play in 2011 dropped off after he got a contract extension. But Jason Hill, who started as the No. 2 guy, wound up getting cut and guys like Jarett Dillard, rookie Cecil Shorts, Chastin West and Kassim Osgood did little to show they were NFL-caliber guys. Blaine Gabbert suffered the consequences. The Colts were insufficiently stocked at corner, though Jacob Lacey bounced back well late in the season after he was benched.

Most improved: Nate Washington, Titans receiver. Runner up: Connor Barwin, Texans outside linebacker.

Washington’s maturation was remarkable. An excitable guy really calmed down and settled in working under offensive coordinator Chris Palmer and Ragone and with Matt Hasselbeck. Washington figured to be better with those guys while working as the No. 2 behind Kenny Britt, but Britt was lost for the season early on and Washington wound up with a 1,000-yard season and seven touchdowns. I give him the nod because I didn’t believe he had untapped upside. That was not the case with Barwin, who the Texans have expected to be a pass-rushing force since they drafted him in 2009.

Most disappointing: Chris Johnson, Titans running back. Runner up: Marcedes Lewis, Jaguars tight end.

I don’t care what sort of defenses are offered up for Johnson. He simply did not run as hard after coming out of a holdout with a giant new contract. There were other issues, but too often he appeared to lack fire and desire. In the rare instances he wound up in a one-on-one situation he was hardly the threat he’s been in the past. If he doesn’t bounce back in 2012, the contract will turn out to be disastrous. Lewis was supposed to be transformed by his MMA training during the lockout. If it impacted him, it made him worse. Expecting another 10 touchdowns was unreasonable. Producing none was unacceptable.

Best position revamp: TIE, Jaguars safeties and Texans safeties.

Both teams were terrible at the position a year ago and despite a draft class that was incredibly thin, reshaped the spot with great results. The Texans shifted Quin from cornerback and he was very solid alongside free-agent addition Manning. The Jaguars signed Dawan Landry from Baltimore and traded for Dwight Lowery, shifting a guy who’d played mostly corner to play with Landry. Applause to both teams for fine work addressing a trouble position.

Surprise of the year: T.J. Yates, Texans quarterback.

The finish in the playoff loss to Baltimore was a big disappointment. But Yates took over a good team when Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart went down in quick succession and played beyond what could reasonably be expected from a fifth-round rookie quarterback.

Colt of the year: Pat Angerer, middle linebacker.

As Indianapolis was not mentioned here at all, we create this category for the Colts. Angerer showed himself to be a quality starter who has to be in the lineup going forward. That may mean the end of Gary Brackett, the veteran middle linebacker who was hurt in Week 1 and missed the season. Angerer is a rangy, instinctive player who’s sure to impress new general manager Ryan Grigson.

Reading the coverage…

Houston Texans

J.J. Watt works tirelessly, but he starts out with a lot of natural talent, says Jeffrey Martin of the Houston Chronicle.

Says Jerome Solomon of the Chronicle: “Wade Phillips has been fired from three head coaching jobs -- in the East (Buffalo), the West (Denver) and the South (Dallas) -- but you can’t tell him that he isn’t a good head coach. Yet so many believe that is the case. They are wrong.”

The best the Texans have done against the Ravens in the past won’t be good enough Sunday, says John McClain of the Chronicle.

Indianapolis Colts

Rich Nye of WTHR caught up to Chris Polian who said “a lot of things were not reported truthfully” over the Colts bad season that led to he and Bill Polian being fired. He wished the franchise the best moving forward. (Hat tip to Colts Authority.)

Brett Mock of Colts Authority looks at contracts and salary cap implications for the team heading into 2012.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Mel Tucker’s disappointment over not getting the top job didn’t linger, and he will be part of Mike Mularkey’s staff, says Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times-Union. Joe Cullen and Mark Duffner will also return.

Writes Gene Frenette of the Times-Union: (Shahid) Khan, in both an attempt at humor and to be complimentary of season-ticket holders, did say: "For me, a fan is somebody who's a season-ticket holder for the Jaguars." Many took it as a slap against fans who don't own season tickets, which is a ridiculous notion since Khan obviously wants to market his product to folks that are on the fence or ambivalent about spending money on tickets.”

Tennessee Titans

Kevin Carter played for the Rams that beat the Titans in the Super Bowl, then changed sides. He thinks Jeff Fisher’s a great hire for St. Louis, say Jim Wyatt and John Glennon of The Tennessean.

The Titans have offered their open secondary coach job to Brett Moxie, but the Cowboys would like to keep him, says Wyatt.

Tennessee re-signed tight end Craig Stevens, says Wyatt. He’s a valuable piece who was heading for free agency.

Mel Kiper hass gone back and reconsidered the grades he gave each NFL team after the 2011 draft, regrading after seeing everyone’s rookie season.

A look at his take on the teams of the AFC South:

Colts

Then: B-

Now: C+

Kiper: “[Anthony] Castonzo hasn't been spectacular, but at least he has made it to the left side and looks like the future there. What can he be? Well, if he does a good job of protecting Andrew Luck, the grade certainly will get a bump. But we don't know yet. Ben Ijalana hasn't shown a lot. Drake Nevis has had moments but mostly got good reps for a bad defense.”

Kuharsky: It’s also important to note what they didn’t draft: sufficient help for the secondary.

Jaguars

Then: C-

Now: D

Kiper: “Suffice to say, I don't think throwing [Blaine] Gabbert in there with a lack of legit passing targets given his developmental needs was a great idea. I still think Gabbert has a shot because he has a lot of good physical tools and can be very accurate, but I hope the experience of this season is something he grows from and isn't a developmental setback. Elsewhere, there isn't much.”

Kuharsky: Guard Will Rackley was not great. The Jaguars’ big additions were in free agency, not through the draft. This draft’s grade will always hang on Gabbert.

Titans

Then: C

Now: B

Kiper: "The Titans got some really good early returns and value. Jurrell Casey and Karl Klug, picked in the third and fifth rounds, respectively, have been very good (Klug really got after quarterbacks), and so has Akeem Ayers, which wasn't much of a surprise. It's hard to up the grade too much until we know whether Locker is indeed the future, but a year out, it looks like the Titans planned and scouted well overall."

Kuharsky: Considering we haven’t seen Jake Locker, the top pick, start a game yet, it’s hard to get much more out of a rookie class than the Titans did.

Texans

Then: B

Now: A-

Kiper: "If you consider that Houston got 11 sacks out of a combo of [Mario] Williams and [Brooks] Reed, the injury to Super Mario doesn't seem so terrible. Of course, the big steal here was to find T.J. Yates in the fifth round after he wasn't even invited to the combine."

Kuharsky: J.J. Watt proved the most impactful pick in the entire division and this class had a big hand in reshaping the Houston defense.

I shared the AFC South votes I cast for the Pro Football Weekly/Pro Football Writers Association of America in this post early in the week.

Today we get the All-Rookie Team from Pro Football Focus with a couple AFC South representations.

Indianapolis offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo got the left tackle spot: “Castonzo had some trouble against bigger rushers like Terrell Suggs and Jeremy Mincey but after years of Charlie Johnson, can be viewed as a big upgrade already it seems at the LT spot.”

Tennessee defensive tackle Jurrell Casey is one of the defensive tackles: Casey went a long way to helping the Titans transition to a new style of defensive line and it be a success. Only three players made more defensive stops in the run game from the defensive tackle spot.

Houston defensive end J.J. Watt should be on any all rookie team. “(He) is such a good player that if you played him in a 4-3 it would work. He can beat tackles with his speed and guards with his power; that’s a pretty complete player who got stronger as the season went on.”

On my ballot for PFW, I voted for Casey, who was quite good, and Watt, who was excellent . I did not vote for Castonzo. He has a bright future and did some good work. But to give him All Rookie just because he played a lot and was OK in stretches, I think it waters down the honor in the award for people like Watt or Denver linebacker Von Miller.