Youngest and Oldest Passing Attacks in History

by Chase Stuart on April 2, 2016

Yesterday, I measured the age of each team’s passing attack by calculating the yards-weighted age of each player who gained either a passing or receiving yard. Today, the historical results.

I’ve written a bit about Terry Bradshaw and his terrible rookie season of 1970, mostly in the context of number one picks taking a long time to break out. But here’s something that often gets lost in the mix: Bradshaw was just one of many inexperienced players on the ‘70 Steelers.

Bradshaw played as a rookie that year at age 22 (Terry Hanratty also started 6 games, and was also 22). The top 6 players in receiving yards on the ’70 Steelers were wide receiver Ron Shanklin (age 22), wide receiver Dave Smith (23), tight end Dennis Hughes (22), fullback John Fuqua (24), wide receiver Hubie Bryant (22), and wide receiver Jon Staggers (22). Incredibly, five of those six players were rookies, with Frenchy Fuqua being the sole exception — and he was drafted in 1969! In the ’70 draft, Pittsburgh took Bradshaw with the 1st overall pick, drafted Shanklin at 28, Staggers in the 5th round, and Smith in the 8th round, while both Hughes and Bryant were undrafted free agents that year. That’s unbelievable, and makes the ’70s Steelers passing attack akin to an expansion team — or rather, an expansion team with almost no access to the veteran market. As a result, Pittsburgh’s 1970 passing attack ranks as the youngest in history:

Rk	Tm	Year	Yds	Age
1	pit	1970	4624	22.9
2	pit	1938	1832	23.0
3	ram	1939	2846	23.3
4	buf	1968	3428	23.4
5	tam	2015	8084	23.4
6	cra	1946	3796	23.5
7	crd	1934	632	23.5
8	pit	1942	1373	23.6
9	mia	1967	5482	23.6
10	cle	1986	8036	23.7
11	mia	1968	5686	23.7
12	sea	1977	4918	23.7
13	chi	1976	3410	23.7
14	cin	1969	5440	23.7
15	pit	1971	4892	23.8
16	clt	1982	3226	23.8
17	crd	1937	2486	23.8
18	nyj	1978	5916	23.8
19	bba	1947	3930	23.9
20	jax	2015	8856	23.9
21	phi	1936	1206	23.9
22	sfo	2006	5780	23.9
23	nwe	1994	9166	23.9
24	crd	1955	3040	23.9
25	nwe	1993	6824	23.9
26	ram	1940	3166	23.9
27	jax	2014	6906	24.0
28	buf	1970	5832	24.0
29	dal	1989	6261	24.0
30	clt	1955	3590	24.0
31	crd	1941	3314	24.0
32	nwe	1975	5537	24.0
33	min	1962	5410	24.0
34	clt	1956	4420	24.0
35	sdg	1962	5372	24.1
36	sea	1976	5748	24.1
37	rai	1961	5028	24.1
38	nwe	1971	4412	24.1
39	ram	2010	7024	24.1
40	det	1941	1708	24.1
41	clt	1983	5326	24.1
42	gnb	1952	5376	24.1
43	rai	2008	5278	24.1
44	nyj	1977	4572	24.1
45	tam	2010	7128	24.1
46	ram	1938	2726	24.1
47	htx	2002	5272	24.1
48	min	1963	5374	24.1
49	pit	1972	3916	24.1
50	bba	1948	5377	24.1

Note that the 2015 Bucs rank as the 5th youngest passing offense ever, while the 2015 Jaguars are the 20th youngest. It may have flown under the radar in a season chock full of storylines, but those two teams fielded very young and pretty good passing offenses.

The oldest? That’s probably not going to be very surprising. It’s the 2002 Raiders, followed only by the 2001 Raiders. Rich Gannon was 37, while Jerry Rice at age 40 led the team in receiving yards. Charlie Garner (30) and Tim Brown (36) were the other two key receivers on the offense. Rice being so old was more than enough to offset the more marginal contributions of young players like Jerry Porter and Doug Jolley.

Rk	Tm	Year	Yds	Age
1	rai	2002	9378	34.5
2	rai	2001	7724	34.4
3	dal	2004	7272	33.8
4	rai	2003	5976	33.6
5	den	1998	7616	33.4
6	was	1974	5956	33.3
7	sdg	2001	7370	33.3
8	sea	1997	8374	33.1
9	nyj	2008	7033	33.0
10	tam	2008	7576	33.0
11	rai	2000	6860	32.9
12	min	1978	7061	32.8
13	den	2014	9558	32.7
14	clt	1971	4304	32.7
15	nwe	2015	9624	32.7
16	was	1973	5123	32.7
17	min	1995	9001	32.6
18	den	1997	7409	32.6
19	sfo	1998	9020	32.4
20	tam	2003	7887	32.4
21	clt	1969	6286	32.4
22	min	2009	8808	32.4
23	kan	1994	8184	32.3
24	gnb	2006	7894	32.2
25	nyg	1993	6366	32.2
26	nyg	1963	7116	32.2
27	kan	2005	8028	32.1
28	mia	1998	7164	32.1
29	tam	2007	7158	32.1
30	nyg	1962	6892	32.1
31	den	2013	11144	32.0
32	buf	1996	7117	32.0
33	buf	1994	7428	32.0
34	min	2010	6654	32.0
35	kan	1993	6768	31.9
36	gnb	2007	8922	31.9
37	nyg	1961	6070	31.9
38	nwe	1966	5568	31.9
39	kan	2006	6492	31.9
40	den	2012	9342	31.9
41	den	1996	7325	31.9
42	oti	1993	8290	31.9
43	gnb	2005	7928	31.8
44	kan	2004	9266	31.8
45	atl	1998	7488	31.8
46	den	1979	6866	31.8
47	nyj	2001	5742	31.8
48	den	1981	7984	31.7
49	was	1975	6184	31.7
50	buf	1999	6962	31.7

As always, leave your thoughts in the comments.

Tagged as: Terry Bradshaw

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