The only downside for teams in the AFC South is the "cap" of enthusiasm.

The AFC South is a curious alignment of teams in various stages of the effects of the salary cap. The Jacksonville Jaguars are in their second year of emerging from salary-cap hell, a torture that cost Tom Coughlin his job. The Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts are in the gates of salary-cap problems. The Houston Texans entered the league with a clean salary cap slate and the sky is the limit for their future. This is a unique division; a thinking man's division in which coaches use the field like a chessboard and front office executives need calculators and spreadsheets. From the coaching standpoints, it's fun watching four defensive head coaches push the limits of offensive strategy. No division uses as many three-receiver sets as the AFC South, putting an emphasis on developing third, fourth and fifth cornerbacks.

From the financial standpoint, it's fascinating watching three of the league's smallest markets -- Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Nashville -- pushing the salary-cap envelope each year to put out the best product possible. It's no wonder that the combined efforts of the coaching staffs and front office execs have consistently produced championship-caliber teams such as the Titans and Jaguars and the Colts -- even if Indy can't ever get past its first-round playoff stalls.

	Fisher's Titans have had to make some tough decisions this offseason because of the salary cap.

The Titans are the reigning kings, and rightfully so. Jeff Fisher bounced back from the Titans' injury plagued 2001 season to improve by four games, going 11-5 and advancing to the AFC title game against the Raiders. Eddie George may not have been the Eddie George of the late 1990s but he brought the power back into the running game with a 1,165-yard season and 12 rushing touchdowns. Steve McNair continued to evolve into one of the sport's best leaders, and the defense finished 10th.

But everyone in the league knows that the Titans are skirting on the edge of salary cap problems. That reality hit home last week when they cut popular middle linebacker Randall Godfrey to save $2 million even though he had taken a pay cut in February. The tight salary cap kept the Titans completely out of the free agent market and delayed the re-signings of quarterback Neil O'Donnell and punter Craig Hentrich. Center Gennaro DiNapoli is expected to re-sign as well, and re-signing defensive tackle Henry Ford is also a possibility.

Fortunately, the Titans drafted well through the years, though their depth continues to get thinner. General manager Floyd Reese emphasized keeping the starting unit together. Fisher, like former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci a few years ago, knew his task involved coaching up a 92-man camp roster in which almost half of the players didn't arrive until draft day or later.

Fisher recently had his contract extended through 2006 and he was certainly deserving. No coach in football is better at rallying a group around a cause better than Fisher, and veteran Titans players know that their window of success could be closing in the next couple of years. The Titans are more than $20 million over the salary cap in 2004 and will have a tough time keeping the full unit together.

"What makes this division tough is that everyone keeps improving," Fisher said. "The Colts will be better with Dwight Freeney in his second year and Edgerrin James coming back stronger. Jacksonville should be better with Jack Del Rio and what the team was able to do in free agency. And Houston is going to be much better with Dom Capers taking this team into the second year."

The Titans were 6-0 in AFC South games, but how long can they continue that mastery? Fisher's background as a former NFL safety and defensive backfield coach helps because he knows the key to the division resides in the secondary. The AFC South has so many three-receiver offenses that the Titans nickel and dimes defenses were on the field roughly 66 percent of the time. Donald Mitchell, last year's third cornerback, ended up starting nine games because most team's line up with at least three receivers.

And the main emphasis of AFC South teams' offseasons has been working on the receiving corps. The Texans drafted Andre Johnson from the University of Miami, who might be the next David Boston. The Colts not only added a veteran wide receiver (Brandon Stokley), but they plan to use more two tight end sets after drafting Dallas Clark to be used along with veteran Marcus Pollard. The Jaguars may not have added speed at wide receiver, but they have been active bringing in Donald Hayes, J.J. Stokes, Jermaine Lewis and Matthew Hatchette.

"This division forces you to make sure that your third cornerback can play well," Fisher said. "Andre Woolfolk (first-round choice) should help, and we think Mike Echols will come on this year."

	“	The Colts will be better with Dwight Freeney in his second year and Edgerrin James coming back stronger. Jacksonville should be better with Jack Del Rio and what the team was able to do in free agency. And Houston is going to be much better with Dom Capers taking this team into the second year. ”
		—Titans coach Jeff Fisher

The Colts returned to the playoffs last year with the four-game improvement helped by hiring of Tony Dungy. Dungy brought his Cover 2 scheme and turned one of the league's worst defenses into the eighth best last year, second best against the pass. Like the Titans, the Colts have salary cap issues. Currently, the Colts have $37.9 million of cap room tied up in five players -- James, Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Chad Bratzke and Adam Meadows.

General manager Bill Polian is in negotiations to extend Manning's contract. He's a free agent after the season, but the Colts have no plans of letting him leave the team. The plan is to get Manning signed before camp and free up enough cap room to keep him surrounded with talent.

Dungy's challenge is keeping the defense from allowing big plays and points. The Colts couldn't afford to keep linebacker Mike Peterson, who went to Jacksonville. Second-year linebacker David Thornton or veteran Jim Nelson draws that assignment. Safety Mike Doss might be needed to help the safety position.

As it was last year, the division title will come down to whoever can sweep the Titans-Colts series. With McNair and Manning as their quarterbacks, the Titans and Colts are talented enough to convert a division title into a Super Bowl run.

Del Rio takes over a Jaguars team that spent two years relinquishing talent because of salary-cap problems created by Coughlin's run at the Super Bowl. Del Rio is a young coach with a great style of motivating. But he takes over a team in transition.

Del Rio has to handle Mark Brunell's final year as the Jaguars quarterback along with developing David Garrard and Byron Leftwich.

The Jaguars have been the busiest AFC South team in free agency, and they aren't done. They've signed 14 players, including Stokes, Hatchette and tackle Sammy Williams. Peterson and defensive end Hugh Douglas were the biggest, most expensive additions.

Still, on paper, the Jaguars may not be better than their 6-10 finish of a year ago, but Del Rio will try to build a foundation for the franchise this season.

For the Texans, it's not a question of if the Texans will be a playoff team, it's a matter of when. Dom Capers established himself early by turning an expansion team into the league's 16th best defense in his first year.

"We will be better," general manager Charley Casserly said. "Having everybody in Dom's system for a second year will make the defense better. We've added more talent on offense, and Andre Johnson has been catching the ball well."

Expect the Texans to improve to among the league's 10 best defenses this year, but it will be the improvements on offense that will dictate if the Texans can win more than four games. The return of Tony Boselli along with the addition of veteran Zach Wiegert could protect David Carr from a repeat of his 76-sack season. Carr needs either Stacey Mack or James Allen to step up as a 1,000-yard running back.

And don't think that Capers and Casserly aren't watching the salary caps of their division opponents. They are the team of the future, and they hope to catch the Jaguars this year.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.