When no one was watching-How the Patriots got so young

[Patsfanin Philly]

It wasn't so long ago that that mantra of the national media was how "old' the Patriots were and how their linebackers had to be at least 30 years old to learn the system. Well, Spikes, Mayo and Hightower average 24 years old and the team's overall average age is not only younger than average but may be one of the youngest in the league at 25.9 in a league that averages 27.2 years old.
Looking at the roster as of 9/1/12 (Spikes and Connolly have birthdays in the next day or so, so I used the higher age)
New England Patriots Roster - NFL - football - SB Nation

The special teams players
(ages 24,26,28) average 26.0 years old.
The 27 defensive players (26,23,25,29,25,28,24,25,22,24,23,22,23,29,22,22,25,26,25,22,28,26,28,25,31,30,22)
averages 25.1 years old with Tracy White and Vince as the only ones 30 or older.
The 22 offensive players ( ages 22,35,24,30,22,26,30,25,23,32,26,24,26,23,28,31,26,27,28,23,31,24,) with Brady, Brandon Lloyd,Mankins, Welker, and Shiancoe as 30 or older. The offense averages 26.6 years old.
This bodes well for the future and while there will be growing pains, the long term implications are very good for a team that has done this while performing at a high level year in and year out.
According to Mike Sando, the Pats were the second oldest defense last year. I'm curious to see where they rank this year.

2011 NFL age ranks: Calling all graybeards - NFC West Blog - ESPN
-----------------
Redskins no longer oldest team in NFL
In 2010, the average age of NFL teams was 27.2

EDIT- The SBNation roster included Demps even though he's on IR but I excluded him from calculations. If you include him, the team obviously gets even younger.

 

[scout]

What is amazing is, the Patriots were champions in 2001 and other then the following year, have played at an extremely high level and rebuilt on the run. What separates that statement from other teams runs (49er's and Steeler) is that this happend during the salary cap era.

 

[Gwedd]

What is amazing is, the Patriots were champions in 2001 and other then the following year, have played at an extremely high level and rebuilt on the run. What separates that statement from other teams runs (49er's and Steeler) is that this happend during the salary cap era.

Concur. That puts scouting and evaluatation at an even bigger premium, since you've got to fit within a specified budget. You simply HAVE to have value/dollar in order to succeed.

 

[goheels22002]

It wasn't so long ago that that mantra of the national media was how "old' the Patriots were and how their linebackers had to be at least 30 years old to learn the system. Well, Spikes, Mayo and Hightower average 24 years old and the team's overall average age is not only younger than average but may be one of the youngest in the league at 25.9 in a league that averages 27.2 years old.
Looking at the roster as of 9/1/12 (Spikes and Connolly have birthdays in the next day or so, so I used the higher age)
New England Patriots Roster - NFL - football - SB Nation

The special teams players
(ages 24,26,28) average 26.0 years old.
The 27 defensive players (26,23,25,29,25,28,24,25,22,24,23,22,23,29,22,22,25,26,25,22,28,26,28,25,31,30,22)
averages 25.1 years old with Tracy White and Vince as the only ones 30 or older.
The 22 offensive players ( ages 22,35,24,30,22,26,30,25,23,32,26,24,26,23,28,31,26,27,28,23,31,24,) with Brady, Brandon Lloyd,Mankins, Welker, and Shiancoe as 30 or older. The offense averages 26.6 years old.
This bodes well for the future and while there will be growing pains, the long term implications are very good for a team that has done this while performing at a high level year in and year out.
According to Mike Sando, the Pats were the second oldest defense last year. I'm curious to see where they rank this year.

2011 NFL age ranks: Calling all graybeards - NFC West Blog - ESPN
-----------------
Redskins no longer oldest team in NFL
In 2010, the average age of NFL teams was 27.2

EDIT- The SBNation roster included Demps even though he's on IR but I excluded him from calculations. If you include him, the team obviously gets even younger.

And the Patriots are the overwhelming favorite in the AFC.

Brady's age sticks out like a sore thumb on the sequence of players ages on offense.

 

[ausbacker]

And the Patriots are the overwhelming favorite in the AFC.

Brady's age sticks out like a sore thumb on the sequence of players ages on offense.

Lucky we're not relying on Brady's pure athleticism to win us games...

 

[ivanvamp]

This has been the most remarkable youth rebuild that I can ever remember in the NFL. And not because of how quickly they've done it, but because they've done it while remaining the dominant team in the conference.