what does "being young" mean in the Rams case?

from off the net

===

amazonmike

When a team’s roster consists of players with a low average age, this is usually due to a mix of older veterans and lots of rookies. In the Rams case, the average age is brought down by a lack of older veterans. There are some players between their upper 20s and around 30 to provide leadership, a whole bunch in their mid 20s who have significant experience, and some who are indeed rookies (including two starters). I believe that the OL is the only place where youth could be a concern, but I would rather have that concern than to have broken down veterans in those positions. The bottom line is that I believe youth will be much more of a plus than a minus on this team due to the shape of the experience bell curve for this team rather than just its mean value.

===

psxpaul

I agree. I think this is mostly a sign that the previous 2 regimes sucked really really badly. The fact that NOBODY from the 2006 or 2007 draft classes is still with the team, greatly impacts the average player age. Guys that could still be will the team, and their current ages:

Adam Carriker – 31
Brian Leonard – 31
Tye Hill – 33
Joe Klopfenstein – 31
Donnie Avery – 31
Jason Smith – 29

Those were all high picks that you expect to stick with the team for a while. For each one that doesn’t pan out, you swap a 32 year old for a 22 year old. That’s a 10 year difference, just from one roster spot.

And no, I wouldn’t expect most teams to keep all 1st and 2nd rounders around for 10 years, but maybe 1 or 2 guys from each draft class (regardless of round). I would expect some free agents to stick around for a few years too. A 32 year old Jason Brown should still be on the roster today, given how much money they handed him.