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2017 AV-Adjusted Team Age: Defense

Yesterday, we looked at the age-adjusted offenses from 2017. Today we do the same for defenses, just like we did last year. Here’s how I opened that column:

Being young isn’t by itself a virtue: the Browns ranked in the bottom 5 in points allowed, yards allowed, net yards per attempt allowed, net yards per rush allowed, turnovers forced, and first downs allowed. But Cleveland was, by far, the youngest defense in the NFL last season.

In 2016, the Browns defense had an average AV-adjusted age of just 25.2; the Falcons were the second-youngest defense at 25.8. In 2017, the Falcons again had an average AV-adjusted defense that was just 25.8 years old. But the Browns? That number dropped to just 24.5! The Browns defense was even younger than the Browns offense, and was by far the youngest unit in all of football:

RkTeamAVAvg Age
1Cleveland Browns8724.5
2New Orleans Saints9925.5
3Dallas Cowboys10025.6
4San Francisco 49ers8425.7
5Atlanta Falcons9725.8
6Detroit Lions9925.9
7Green Bay Packers8525.9
8New York Jets9726
9Houston Texans8426
10Indianapolis Colts8226.1
11Pittsburgh Steelers10326.1
12Jacksonville Jaguars13526.2
13Los Angeles Chargers11726.2
14New York Giants8826.3
15Los Angeles Rams11026.3
16New England Patriots10426.4
17Oakland Raiders8626.5
18Washington Redskins10026.5
19Chicago Bears10826.7
20Philadelphia Eagles12127
21Tennessee Titans10227.1
22Denver Broncos9827.2
23Buffalo Bills8927.3
24Cincinnati Bengals9627.3
25Tampa Bay Buccaneers8527.3
26Seattle Seahawks10727.4
27Kansas City Chiefs9327.4
28Baltimore Ravens11627.4
29Minnesota Vikings12527.6
30Miami Dolphins8927.7
31Arizona Cardinals10927.7
32Carolina Panthers9628.7

We can look at the Browns defense in more depth, just as we did with the team’s offense yesterday: other than McCourty, nobody was even 28 years old on the defense.

PlayerPos9/1 AgeAVTm Def AVPercAgeWt
Joe SchobertOLB23.898710.3%2.5
Christian KirkseyOLB257878%2
Jason McCourtyDB30.16876.9%2.1
Trevon ColeyDL23.16876.9%1.6
Jamar TaylorCB26.95875.7%1.5
Carl NassibDE24.45875.7%1.4
Danny SheltonDT245875.7%1.4
Jabrill PeppersSS21.95875.7%1.3
Nate OrchardOLB24.74874.6%1.1
Emmanuel OgbahDE23.84874.6%1.1
Derrick KindredSS23.74874.6%1.1
James BurgessLB23.54874.6%1.1
Myles GarrettDE21.74874.6%1
Jamie CollinsOLB27.33873.4%0.9
Briean Boddy-CalhounDB24.63873.4%0.8
Larry OgunjobiDT23.22872.3%0.5
Caleb BrantleyDT232872.3%0.5
Kai NacuaFS22.52872.3%0.5
Charley HughlettLS27.31871.1%0.3
Jamie MederDT26.41871.1%0.3
Derron SmithFS25.61871.1%0.3
Ibraheim CampbellSS25.31871.1%0.3
Mike JordanDB24.91871.1%0.3
Deon KingLB24.21871.1%0.3
B.J. BelloLB22.81871.1%0.3

In 2018, Collins will be the oldest player on defense, and he turns 29 in October. The Browns selected Myles Garrett and Jabrill Peppers in the first round last year, and both will still be 22 when the season starts; this year, Cleveland took 21-year-old cornerback Denzel Ward with the 4th overall pick.  As a result, the Browns should once against have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL.

As for Carolina? The 2017 Panthers had five major contributors who were in their 30s: LB Thomas Davis (34.4 last year),  S Mike Adams (36.4), DE Mario Addison (30.0), DE Julius Peppers (37.6), and DE Charles Johnson (31.1).  All but Johnson are returning this year, and the 2018 Panthers defense will also rely on three other members of the secondary (in addition to Adams) who are in their 30s in Colin Jones and Captain Munnerlyn and Da’Norris Searcy.

Carolina only had three regular defensive players — James Bradberry, Shaq Thompson, and Daryl Worley — that you could reasonably label as young (under 26 at the start of the season). The Panthers selected cornerback Donte Jackson in the second round this year, but otherwise, that doesn’t look super likely to change much. Expect the Panthers defense to be very old in 2018, unless injuries hit so hard that the team is forced to rely on younger players.

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