Atlanta Falcons: Young birds and a look into ages around the league

An in-depth look at the age averages around the league to see where the Atlanta Falcons fit in as a young team compared to others

Not too long ago, a picture was circulating around twitter that showed age summaries of specific positions on each NFL team. It was a little outdated, so I created a spreadsheet to see how teams — specifically the Atlanta Falcons — stack up to each other age wise.

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A couple of notes: Starting quarterback age used only — based off of NFL teams depth chart. Also used was the average of three running backs per team, three tight ends, four wide receivers, five offensive linemen, and depending on Defensive formations – three or four defensive linemen, four or three linebackers (basically anyone who will see a large amount of playing time), four cornerbacks, and three safeties.

There was no reason to go down to the ninth offensive lineman, or number seven wide out. That being said, these are some very young Falcons. So, let’s take a look at the chart in the link below.

Age spreadsheet

As you can see, there’s a lot of colors, a lot of numbers, and it may be too much for some to figure out. So, lets break it down. The youngest offenses look to be, the Rams, Texans, Bears, Browns, and Titans who all are averaging around the 25 year-old mark.

There’s quite a few teams above the ‘average’ age based on the chart, too many to probably name. Atlanta’s quarterback is obviously Matt Ryan who’s over 30 (who cares really. He’s the MVP) but those running backs are young. Also the tight ends are young. Offensive line and wide outs are average aged, with a mix of veteran and youth all around. So overall, the Falcons fall in the average category (low average, really) which is great, considering what we’re about to get into next.

The Defense.

The Falcons on paper, have the youngest Defense in the league (of course, some charts may factor in more depth and what-not, but even with it, Atlanta doesn’t have a lot of age anywhere). Atlanta’s average age on Defense is under 24 years old. Take into account, Atlanta lost the two oldest players on the entire team this past offseason in Jonathan Babineaux, and Dwight Freeney who were both posing 35-plus.

For the record, on defensive line, the players used were: Takkarist McKinley,  Dontari Poe, Grady Jarrett, and Vic Beasley. Simply because that’s who Atlanta will trot out the majority of the time. Also, an estimate of the starting linebackers will ultimately end up being the new D-Block in Duke Riley, Deion Jones, De’Vondre Campbell. The corners were the obvious four: Desmond Trufant, Robert Alford, Jalen Collins and Brian Poole.

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So there you have it. This team — considering the strides they made last year — may be around for a while, folks.