2025 was a strange year for the AFC South. Whilst the Houston Texans failed to win the division for the first time since 2022, they still went further than the eventual division champions in the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Despite an impressive first seasons for Liam Coen, he was dealt a tough hand going up against the Buffalo Bills in the Wildcard Round. Meanwhile, the Texans were given the luxury of being able to play a poor Pittsburgh Steelers team in the same stage of the postseason.

The Tennessee Titans went through a transitional season that saw them end up with the fourth overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, one they used on highly rated wide receiver Cornell Tate.

Whilst for the Indianapolis Colts, it could have been all so different. When they beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime during their matchup in Berlin, the team moved to an 8-2 record. Many were predicting the AFC number one seed and even a trip to the Super Bowl in the process. Instead, they failed to win a single game again, even resorting to bringing 45-year-old Philip Rivers out of retirement after Daniel Jones suffered a season ending injury.

The AFC South has not been the strongest division in recent years. However, there are some brilliant players on display. Whether this is the - Texans’ Will Anderson, the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, the Titans’ Jeffrey Simmons or the Jaguars’ Josh Hines-Allen, the division still has some elite talent.

The theme for all four team’s quarterbacks is consistency. Neither have shown they can guide the team to success on a regular basis. But how do they rank?

Here is a ranking of all four quarterbacks in the AFC South.

The potential is there to see with Titans quarterback Cam Ward. In small glimpses, the talent he has was there to see in a struggling team last season.

His mentality is fantastic and he is a clear leader in the locker room, as can be seen in Series Three of Quarterback on Netflix, which was released last month.

A poor supporting cast may ultimately hinder Ward from going higher in this list over the next few years. The addition of wide receiver Cornell Tate fourth overall in April may change that.

For now, Ward remains in fourth place.

The Sam Darnold story of last season is what many thought would be the ending to the 2025 season that Jones was going to have.

His injury helps his stock, but teams did start to figure Jones out. Returning to the field, there is no guarantee he will be the same player that we saw guide the Colts to such a strong start in 2025.

Jones saw major improvement but has a very small sample size of elite quarterback play in the NFL throughout his pro career.

CJ Stroud’s form took a nosedive in 2025, topped off with a disastrous postseason. In two playoff games last season, Stroud recorded two touchdowns to five interceptions.

His miserable playoffs were capped off with one touchdown to four picks in their Divisional Round defeat to the New England Patriots, despite their defense allowing Drake Maye to only throw for 179 yards and no receiver or running back recording 100 or more yards.

Stroud came into the league in 2023, after being taken second overall. He started life in the NFL like a house on fire, enjoying an impressive rookie year. The hype was high on the former Ohio State QB after his first season, but his stock has fallen considerably since.

After an impressive rookie year, he has continued to get worse and there are fears that he may never return to the form that we once saw lighting up Houston three seasons ago.

1. Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Trevor Lawrence had an excellent 2025 season, arguably his greatest campaign as an NFL pro. Since being drafted first overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, Lawrence has had his ups and downs.

No season has defined “down year” quite like his rookie year. Playing under Urban Meyer, this was essentially a wasted year given his incompetence as an NFL head coach in Duval County.

Lawrence bounced back in 2022 but had struggled for consistency. 2025 saw Lawrence show the league exactly what he can do.

Questions still are to be answered with regards to Lawrence’s playoff credentials, with just one postseason victory in his NFL career. Even this win was a game where he threw four first half interceptions. It was only the fortune of the Los Angeles Chargers’ collapse in the final two quarters that saw the Jags advance.

In three total playoff games, he has eight touchdowns to seven interceptions. Despite this, Lawrence has still shown more than enough to be top of this list

Andy Davies

Ranking AFC South quarterbacks

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