Patriots News Flash: The Team is Still Kind of Old

While the team ranks high in average age, I believe that the age of the Patriots players brings valuable experience- unlike the age of some other teams. I don’t think that the Patriots age should provide much of a problem this upcoming season, but questions remain as to what players will become starters down the road.

Good question to ask, but I don’t see age as a problem here.

The offense is where the age lies with this team.

The running back situation is a problem. Maroney is just 25, as is Green-Ellis, but neither appear to be the future solution at running back. This entire group is going to need to be restocked with youth.

The team is working on wide receiver. Price, Tate, Edelman all represent the future. If they can pan out, the Patriots won’t need to do much more to address the position, although I’d like the team to add a Moss-like presence through the draft… my favorite is Georgia’s AJ Green.

Quarterback isn’t really a problem. We know what we have with Brady. Assuming he signs his extension, we won’t need to worry about the future of that position for another four, maybe five years. Besides, I really like Hoyer as a developmental prospect.

Pretty much, the only way I see the Patriots’ age affecting the offense this year is on the offensive line, where everyone except Vollmer and Mankins (if he even counts) are on the wrong side of 30. The Patriots are going to have to address the offensive line with a high draft pick or two next April.

I think age [veteran experience and mentoring] is a plus: an advantage. However, to maximize the gains, the PATS need to begin rotating players along the O-line throughout the game. They beat guys down until injury: year after year. A rotation might extend the season for all of them. It’ll certainly create more useful depth when injuries happen, and it assures that you have fresh lineman throughout the game: ALL good things.

Rotations:

Tackle: Light, Kazur, Vollmer, LeVoir could easily create a solid four player rotation
Guard: Connolly, Neal, Ohrnberger, Kazur [again] create a solid four player rotation

I would love to see Mankins return, and remove Kazur from two rotations. I feel that the PATS dropped the ball with Mankins: somehow. This should not have reached this point. He is definitely excellent. He has been a solid team/locker room guy. He’s a Pro Bowler. I just think his value to Brady was worth getting a happy agreement long before the $#@ hit the fan

Seriously, though, some age on the O-line is a good thing. Brady calls out the Mike, but Koppen calls out the coverage. Not exactly a job for a newbie. There are far more miscues when Koppen isn’t in there.

Having a group of guys play together for awhile helps a lot when you are essentially trying to be bricks in the same wall. The worst lines tend to be either a bunch of young guys (with no experience), or a bunch of guys who haven’t worked together very long.

The way we usually see reps for the younger guys is when the older guys get injured. Since they’re older, there is more chance of that happening. It tends to work itself out – like with our young stud Vollmer.

As far as Moss, or Holt, I see guys who can diagnose a defense and find weaknesses. Hardly a bad thing. Past that, we have a lot of new blood and Welker. No problems there.

Brady shouldn’t leave. Ever. Just kidding. If he shows signs of decline, then yeah, show him the door. Some people might say last year was a decline year – his second best statistically. It might have been. He didn’t make decisions as well as he did in the past. Is that decline? Hard to say with his recovery from knee injury, the injuries he sustained during the season, and the lack of a 3rd and 4th wideout. Let’s watch him this year and see. Targets galore, injuries mended (and boo boos kissed by Giselle); let’s see if it was him or the situation. I’m betting on the sitch.

Our RB crew is all scheduled to leave next year. Faulk will stay as long as he is asked (his number have actually improved the last two years). Morris will likely be available as well – either to start the season, or on a Seau-like speed dial. Maroney hasn’t performed well enough to have a ton of suitors, and neither has BJGE. Taylor may go elsewhere or retire. I haven’t seen enough out of him to care either way. Point is, we can toss as many or as few new horses in the stable as we want next year. Anywhere from a two man to a five man rotation, what ever makes sense. If they are young, they can also be on special teams. There will always be one year rentals around looking to go out on top. RB’s are the easiest guys to pick up as long as you aren’t looking for studs. In my opinion, there are only around 5 studs in the whole NFL.

The average Patriots player is a whopping 219 DAYS older than the average NFL player. And the average Patriots player is 1 year and 2134 days older than the average player on the YOUNGEST (and, unsurprisingly, worst) NFL team. If we were pushing an average age of 28 or 29, there would be cause for concern. But 26.64? For most players, that’s a mere 4 or 5 years in the system. Isn’t that the perfect range to be in? Doesn’t that mean that our average player is either currently in or entering his prime? The Patriots should be happy that their average player isn’t a second-year, 24-year-old.

There certainly are concerns at individual positions, as you note (OL, maybe DL, and RB), but considering the vast majority of the rest of the team is relatively young, and this conflated stat is being dragged down (or is it up?) by a few fogies, I’m not really concerned by this.

Or maybe I’m sensitive to being called old at age 26.

The Pats are older, so what. Are they productive? If not – you cut the guys who aren’t if they are 24 or 34, you play well you stay, you don’t you go.

All other major sports have guaranteed contracts where age becomes a bigger issue because you are stuck with players who may not be performing as you want them too. Not so in the NFL.

That Pats are transitioning, as mentioned above and the defense took priority the last 2-3 years – mostly due to the fact that the offense was so proficient it could didn’t need as much help. Though that the same time they are kicking the tires in the low rounds on OL, they’ve drafted WRs in each of the last 3 drafts and this year they went after TEs.

Next year Morris, Taylor and Faulk are all likely gone, so the RB position will be getting younger, potentially Light and or Koppen could be gone as well.

It’s an ever changing thing, this Age deal. As long as you are productive though, BB will give you a spot.

Richard’s piece set things up very nicely and the thread has been a really useful one. I agree with most of what’s been said and don’t really have anything more to add—so I won’t try! I’ll just say I’ve enjoyed reading the responses.