Why the Washington Football Team’s youth movement is encouraging

By Jonathan Eig | Dec 16, 2020

Washington Football Team QB Antonio Gibson. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 26: Antonio Gibson #24 of the Washington Football Team celebrates with Terry McLaurin #17, Chase Roullier #73 and Morgan Moses #76 after rushing for a 23-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter of a game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on November 26, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 26: Antonio Gibson #24 of the Washington Football Team celebrates with Terry McLaurin #17, Chase Roullier #73 and Morgan Moses #76 after rushing for a 23-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter of a game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on November 26, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Inside the Washington Football Team’s youth movement.

Pop quiz. How many players on the Washington Football Team’s current 53-man roster are over 30 years old? While I give you time to Google that one, let me state up front that this is an article about roster construction, and it will heap lots of praise on Washington’s new regime.

If you are old enough to remember Washington’s Camelot years – the 1980s – when it appeared that GM Bobby Beathard and coach Joe Gibbs could do no wrong, you may be overly critical of the mistakes that invariably accompany any attempt to create a cohesive 53-man unit of highly-driven professional athletes.

I am not here to say that the Kyle Smith/Ron Rivera team hasn’t had a misstep or two. I’m just saying that after years of wandering in the wilderness, they have done a remarkable job of turning this back into a smart, professional franchise.

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Roster age has something to with that. By now, you should have had time to figure out that only five current Washington players are older than 30. Thomas Davis (37), Alex Smith (36), Nick Sundberg (33), Ryan Kerrigan (32), and Dontrelle Inman (31). Three reserves, one specialist, and one starter.

Meanwhile, three crucial starters – Antonio Gibson, Chase Young, and Kamren Curl – have not celebrated their 23rd birthdays yet.

This is one of the best things that Smith and Rivera have accomplished during their brief tenure. The average age of Washington’s roster on opening day, 2019, was 26.1. That ranked 20th in the league. For opening day, 2020, that age had been reduced to 25.8. Three-tenths may not appear to be a lot, but it is very significant. That figure moved Washington down to 14th in the league. Put another way, they are now below the league average. You can consider them a young team.

There is nothing inherently wrong with having an older roster, nor is it a given that having a young roster is always a good thing. What you want is a talented, balanced roster.

Older rosters can be very effective. In 2019, all six AFC playoff teams had rosters at the league average or older. New England had the oldest roster in the league. Conference runner-up Tennessee had the fourth-oldest.

But the NFC slate of playoff teams shows that there is a limit to how much age has to do with success. Though one playoff team, Philadelphia, did have the second-oldest roster in the league, three others – Seattle, Green Bay, and Minnesota – all had among the youngest. Overall, the play-off teams skew slightly older than the league average.

The problem arises when you have an old roster and a bad team. And that’s what Washington was looking at in 2019.

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