Are the Pats "Aging"?

I looking through the preseason pubs, one common theme I have seen is that they think the Pats are aging. They are basically stating that the Pats are close to their run because their team is old and will have to rebuild again. Yes, Brady alone would be enough to be talking about having to start thinking about rebuilding in the future, but these publications aren't saying the Broncos are "aging" with Manning being a year older and him actually showing more signs of physically aging despite his career year. The storyline for the Broncos seems to be that they have reloaded for another Super Bowl run.

Yes, Brady is going to be 37 at the start of the season and Mankins, Vince, and Kelly are several years past 30, but how in the world is this an aging team? If you look at the projected starting roster, there more players 25 and under than over 30.

25 and under
Gronk
Dobson
Jones
Hightower
Collins
Ridley
Vereen (I expect a two back set starting a lot because of the lack of TEs)
Harmon

30 and over
Brady
Vollmer(30)
Connolly (could start, could be cut and his replacement would most likely be under 25)
Vince
Kelly
Ninkovich (30)
Mankins

Only Brady, Vince, Kelly, and Mankins are really what you could consider an age past their prime where they are over 32.

I know these preseason pubs never get much right and it isn't really something to get upset about. But I figured I would throw it out there.

Little known NFL fact: The Patriots are the only team that "ages." Everyone else either stays the same or gets younger.

No, the Patriots had one of the youngest rosters in the league last year - it's a tired, lazy media trope regurgitated by the uninformed.

It's like the "Patriots have no receivers" line, the 2013 receivers put up more yards than the 2012 counterparts, the lost production was at TE but the media ignore that.

Brady's talked about the Spurs championsihp run a lot this offseason. I think he wants the team to model that one (they already do resemble each other) and one thing that team was a good balance between youth and experience. This team should have that.

i saw the title and your name (Rob) and was thinking, "Huh? Rob would know better than that!"

Though, I think you had a typo in (needed the bold part below)

but these publications are saying the Broncos aren't "aging" with Manning being a year older and him actually showing more signs of physically aging despite his career year

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I guess it's just the same-tired arguments that gets the masses worked up. I'm fairly certain that real football fans (even from other teams) know the truth, but the great majority are sheep and just will trumpet anything to knock the team down.

If you want to say something may be old, you could, perhaps, say the playbook because we don't have no funky-new-wave shoot and root/options QB. That might have more legs, but would still not explain the great success the teams puts up year in and year out.

BradyManny said:

Brady's talked about the Spurs championsihp run a lot this offseason. I think he wants the team to model that one (they already do resemble each other) and one thing that team was a good balance between youth and experience. This team should have that.

Click to expand...

The Spurs were also able to practically score with their eyes closed while clamping down on the other team's best scorer (in the title series' case, the greatest player on Earth). The Pats, hopefully, will have the same vibe.

Well, duh. EVERYONE is aging. These aren't vampires for crying out loud.

Rob0729 said:

I looking through the preseason pubs, one common theme I have seen is that they think the Pats are aging. They are basically stating that the Pats are close to their run because their team is old and will have to rebuild again. Yes, Brady alone would be enough to be talking about having to start thinking about rebuilding in the future, but these publications aren't saying the Broncos are "aging" with Manning being a year older and him actually showing more signs of physically aging despite his career year. The storyline for the Broncos seems to be that they have reloaded for another Super Bowl run.

Yes, Brady is going to be 37 at the start of the season and Mankins, Vince, and Kelly are several years past 30, but how in the world is this an aging team? If you look at the projected starting roster, there more players 25 and under than over 30.

25 and under
Gronk
Dobson
Jones
Hightower
Collins
Ridley
Vereen (I expect a two back set starting a lot because of the lack of TEs)
Harmon

30 and over
Brady
Vollmer(30)
Connolly (could start, could be cut and his replacement would most likely be under 25)
Vince
Kelly
Ninkovich (30)
Mankins

Only Brady, Vince, Kelly, and Mankins are really what you could consider an age past their prime where they are over 32.

I know these preseason pubs never get much right and it isn't really something to get upset about. But I figured I would throw it out there.

Click to expand...

These are all of the ages of all the current Patriots on the 90-man roster, the average age is 25.15 years old, that is very young overall.

Aiken, Danny-25
Allen, Ryan-24
Amendola, Danny-28
Anderson, James-30
Arrington, Kyle-27
Barker, Chris-23
Beauharnais, Steve-24
Bequette, Jake-25
Bolden, Brandon-24
Boyce, Josh-23
Brady, Tom-36
Browner, Brandon-29
Buchanan, Michael-23
Butler, Malcolm-24
Cannon, Marcus-26
Cave, Braxston-25
Chung, Patrick-26
Collins, Jamie-24
Connolly, Dan-31
Davis, Ja'Gared-23
Davis, Kanorris-24
Dennard, Alfonzo-24
Develin, James-26
Devey, Jordan-26
Dobson, Aaron-22
Easley, Dominique-22
Ebner, Nate-25
Edelman, Julian-28
Finch, Roy-22
Fleming, Cameron-21
Fleming, Darius-25
Forston, Marcus-24
Gaffney, Tyler-23
Gallon, Jeremy-24
Garoppolo, Jimmy-22
Gary, Shamiel-24
Gordon, Cameron-23
Gostkowski, Stephen-30
Gray, Jonas-24
Green, Justin-23
Gronkowski, Rob-25
Halapio, Jon-23
Harmon, Duron-23
Hawkins, Travis-23
Hightower, Dont'a-24
Hoomanawanui, Michael-26
Houston, Stephen-22
Johnson, Derrick-23
Jones, Chandler-24
Jones, Chris-24
Jones, Justin-22
Kelly, Tommy-33
Kline, Josh-24
LaFell, Brandon-27
Mallett, Ryan-26
Mankins, Logan-32
Manumaleuna, Eathyn-25
Martin, Chris-24
Mayo, Jerod-28
McCourty, Devin-26
McCuller, Taylor-24
Moore, Zach-23
Ninkovich, Rob-30
Ott, Tyler-22
Revis, Darrelle-29
Ridley, Stevan-25
Ryan, Logan-23
Siliga, Sealver-24
Skinner, Deontae-23
Slater, Matthew-28
Smith, Will-33
Solder, Nate-26
Stanford, Cole-23
Stork, Bryan-23
Swanson, Daxton-23
Thomas, Jemea-24
Thompkins, Kenbrell-26
Tuipulotu, L.T.-23
Tyms, Brian-25
Van Hooser, Wilson-23
Vellano, Joe-25
Vereen, Shane-25
Vollmer, Sebastian-30
Watson, Asa-23
Wendell, Ryan-28
White, Chris-25
White, James-22
Wilfork, Vince-32
Williams, D.J.-25
Wilson, Tavon-24

RelocatedPatFan said:

i saw the title and your name (Rob) and was thinking, "Huh? Rob would know better than that!"

Though, I think you had a typo in (needed the bold part below)

I guess it's just the same-tired arguments that gets the masses worked up. I'm fairly certain that real football fans (even from other teams) know the truth, but the great majority are sheep and just will trumpet anything to knock the team down.

If you want to say something may be old, you could, perhaps, say the playbook because we don't have no funky-new-wave shoot and root/options QB. That might have more legs, but would still not explain the great success the teams puts up year in and year out.

Click to expand...

I screwed up with aren't, but you have have it in the wrong place. It should be in the first are.

I am also just generating discussion. I know these publications are always wrong about 90% of the stuff they talk about. I just think it weird that the Pats have this national reputation as "aging" while another team who is just or more aging is considered reloading. The Broncos have the following starters that are over 30: Manning, Ware, Welker, Vikerson, and Rameriez.

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about the way that BB runs the team is that he brings in ageing vets for a "Last Hurrah" -- Brian Waters, Alge Crumpler, Andre Carter, Doug Flutie and, of course, poor Junior.

It doesn't always work out by any means (Fred Taylor) but these guys bring something to the team that BB really values beyond their play on the field. Not only are they savvy and experienced, they also let the younger guys know how lucky they are to be on a well-run team that competes for championships every year.

If you just look at headline ages, they can make the team seem "old", but it isn't something to worry about -- something to celebrate.

I just hope Super G eases up with the 6:00 AM chores at home so Brady can get thru the season.

Aging? We are one of the youngest teams in the NFL

It helps to realize that most of the people who are writing up these previews watch maybe 1-2 Patriots games per year. They look at the roster, pick up the 10 guys whose names they know, and decide that since Brady, Mankins and Wilfork are older, that means the team is aging. Then they drool all over their keyboard and smash away until they have something resembling a coherent article.

If our QB was 30, we'd be talked about as one of the youngest, most up-and-coming teams in the league. But he's 37, so we're aging.

I think we had the second youngest team last year didn't we?

Silly thread IMO. Only Brady and Wilfork are "old" for NFL players.