On Tuesday and Wednesday, we looked at the average age for each team’s offense and defense in 2016. Today, let’s look at the overall picture (ignoring special teams). By that measure, the Jaguars, Browns, Rams, Bucs, and Texans have the five youngest teams in the NFL. Take a look:
Rk | Team | Team AV | Age |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 178 | 25.9 |
2 | Cleveland Browns | 156 | 25.9 |
3 | Los Angeles Rams | 154 | 26.1 |
4 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 196 | 26.2 |
5 | Houston Texans | 187 | 26.2 |
6 | Kansas City Chiefs | 212 | 26.3 |
7 | Chicago Bears | 162 | 26.3 |
8 | Dallas Cowboys | 230 | 26.4 |
9 | Detroit Lions | 189 | 26.5 |
10 | New York Giants | 211 | 26.5 |
11 | Tennessee Titans | 211 | 26.5 |
12 | Oakland Raiders | 205 | 26.7 |
13 | San Francisco 49ers | 158 | 26.8 |
14 | Green Bay Packers | 217 | 26.9 |
15 | Denver Broncos | 207 | 26.9 |
16 | Seattle Seahawks | 217 | 26.9 |
17 | Miami Dolphins | 191 | 26.9 |
18 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 217 | 27.0 |
19 | New York Jets | 157 | 27.1 |
20 | Carolina Panthers | 187 | 27.1 |
21 | San Diego Chargers | 192 | 27.1 |
22 | Atlanta Falcons | 240 | 27.2 |
23 | Washington Redskins | 214 | 27.2 |
24 | Philadelphia Eagles | 197 | 27.3 |
25 | Indianapolis Colts | 211 | 27.3 |
26 | Arizona Cardinals | 209 | 27.4 |
27 | Buffalo Bills | 204 | 27.4 |
28 | New England Patriots | 253 | 27.5 |
29 | Minnesota Vikings | 204 | 27.6 |
30 | Cincinnati Bengals | 197 | 27.8 |
31 | Baltimore Ravens | 200 | 27.8 |
32 | New Orleans Saints | 209 | 28.0 |
For the Jaguars, here were the players who had at least 6 points of AV last year, with their age in parentheses:
- QB Blake Bortles (24.3 on September 1st of last year)
- ILB Telvin Smith (25.4)
- LB Paul Posluszny (31.9)
- T Jermey Parnell (30.1)
- DT Malik Jackson (26.6)
- FS Jalen Ramsey (21.9)
- T Kelvin Beachum (27.2) (now with the Jets)
- SS Jonathan Cyprien (26.1)
- DB Tashaun Gipson (26.1)
- WR Marqise Lee (24.8)
- OLB Yannick Ngakoue (21.4)
- OG A.J. Cann (24.9)
- OG Brandon Linder (24.6)
- WR Allen Robinson (23.0)
Note that this list excludes LB Myles Jack (21.0), WR Allen Hurns (24.8), and DE/OLB Dante Fowler (22.1). And the offense added RB Leonard Fournette with the fourth overall pick. The defense has an incredible amount of young talent, and the offense has a lot of potential with Robinson, Hurns, and Fournette. This is obviously a huge year for Bortles: if the Jaguars don’t have a winning record, it will likely be because of below-average quarterback play.
We can do the same exercise with the Chiefs, who had the sixth-youngest team in the NFL last year. It was surprising to see Kansas City trade an enormous sum to move up for Patrick Mahomes, but that may be a sign that Kansas City is thinking long-term, too. Below are all players on the Chiefs who had at least 5 points of AV last year, with their 9/1/16 ages in parentheses:
- CB Marcus Peters (23.6)
- QB Alex Smith (32.3)
- DB Eric Berry (27.7)
- T Mitchell Schwartz (27.2)
- TE Travis Kelce (26.9)
- RB Spencer Ware (24.8)
- WR Tyreek Hill (22.5)
- LB Derrick Johnson (33.8)
- DT Dontari Poe (26.0)
- OT Eric Fisher (25.7)
- DE Dee Ford (25.5)
- OT Mitch Morse (24.4)
- ILB Ramik Wilson (24.0)
- LB Frank Zombo (29.5)
- OT Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (25.6)
- DT Chris Jones (22.2)
Behind Hill — who may become a superstar — and Kelce in the passing game are Albert Wilson and Chris Conley, who are both 25 this season. And with Ware and 2017 third round pick Kareem Hunt, the running game is extremely young, too. Mahomes may not play in 2017, but come 2018, he could be part of a young and talented offense.
As for the oldest teams in the league? The Ravens led the league last year with 10 players 30 or older who had at least 5 points of AV; the Saints and Colts were tied for second with seven. New Orleans has the oldest AV-adjusted team age in part because of the quarterback, but he wasn’t the only player to come in 2006 still on the roster. That year, the Saints signed Drew Brees (39 in January) and drafted Zach Strief and Jahri Evans, and they were three of the cornerstones of the offense 10 years later. Evans is now in Green Bay, but the Saints also traded 23-year-old Brandin Cooks to the Patriots, so the offense may not be much younger this year.