Packers Three-Peat in Annual NFL Roster Analysis

The Green Bay Packers’ roster is young, tall and athletic.

The NFL released its annual breakdown of Week 1 rosters just before Thursday night’s victory over the Washington Commanders. The Packers have the youngest roster for the third consecutive season. They also have the least-experienced roster. And the tallest.

Here’s a closer look.

Packers Roster Three-Peat

Once again, the Packers have the youngest roster in the NFL. Last year, their average age was 24.91 – the youngest since the Browns in 2017. With the core of the roster coming back, the Packers not surprisingly are older with an average age of 25.28.

Still, Green Bay is the youngest team by a significant margin. The Philadelphia Eagles are the second-youngest at 25.78. That’s a half-year difference. The Packers are one of only four teams with an average age younger than 26.

Over the past 20 years, the Packers have had had one of the three youngest rosters nine times, including the youngest in seven. They’ve been outside the top 10 only twice and never outside of the top half.

Even the big moves are slanted toward youth. In free agency, the Packers signed 26-year-old Nate Hobbs. Essentially, he replaced Jaire Alexander, who is 28. In the blockbuster trade for Micah Parsons, the Packers acquired a 26-year-old and traded Kenny Clark, who will turn 30 in a few weeks.

The average NFL player is 26.36 years old, so Green Bay is under that by more than a year.

The Washington Commanders are the oldest team at 28.00. In the NFC North, Detroit is 26.41, Chicago is 26.47 and Minnesota is 26.57.

Not Just Age

However you view it, Green Bay is young.

By experience: As you’d expect because the Packers are young, they’re also experienced. The average player has 3.41 years of experience. That’s by far the least-experienced team in the NFL. The Patriots are a distant second at 3.83. In total, only five teams averaged less than 4.00 years of experience.

The NFL average is 4.44. In the NFC North, Minnesota is 4.39, Chicago is 4.53 and Detroit is 4.59. Incredibly, only two teams have an average of 5.00. What’s incredible about that? Pittsburgh’s average is 5.42 and Washington’s average is 6.07, so they’re incredibly far up the spectrum.

By rookies: The Packers are young but don’t have an absurd number of rookies and first-year players to skew the numbers. Their nine rookies and first-year players is actually less than the NFL average of 9.47.

The Vikings rounded out their veteran-laden roster with an NFL-leading 15 rookies and first-year players. Chicago has 10 and Detroit has only seven.

“We had a lot of young players that have played a lot of football and they’re very experienced, but us old guys that have been int his league for a long time understand the opportunities that you have in this league, you don’t have a lot of them,” general manager Gutekunst said during training camp.

“That’s where I think the urgency for me is you’ve got to understand what’s in front of us. We’ve got a really good football team, the capability of being there, and you’ve got to take advantage of that.”

By veterans: The Packers have only two players who are 30-plus years old. Those are the specialists. Kicker Brandon McManus is 34 and long snapper Matt Orzech is 30. Elgton Jenkins, whose birthday is on Dec. 26, is the only other player on the team who will be 30 by the end of the season.

Contrast that to the Commanders, who have 17 30-somethings on their roster. Minnesota and Chicago have 10 and Detroit has nine. The league average is 8.97.

Green Bay and the Jets (four) are the only teams with less than six.

Packers Are Tall, Too

Every draft cycle, the Packers’ distaste for short players comes to the forefront. It’s not just cornerbacks and receivers. Really, it’s every position.

The average Packers player is 6.24 feet tall. So, consider that 6-foot-3. There’s not a large difference around the league, though. The Lions have the shortest roster; their average player is 6.16 feet, so just a bit less than 6-foot-2.

Meanwhile, their average player weighs 247.02 pounds, eighth-lightest in the league. Last year, their average of 247.59 pounds was fifth-heaviest. So, did the Packers go on a diet? No. Trading Clark for Parsons lopped about 1 pound off the figure.

The Packers have 10 players who are less than 200 pounds, 11 players who are more than 300 pounds and only four who are shorter than 6-foot. The league-leaders in those figures: Less than 200 pounds, Detroit with 13; 300-plus pounds, New England with 14; less than 6-foot, Detroit and Tampa Bay with 13.

They’re Also Athletic

The Packers are loaded with speed, which is evident when watching the defense the past two weeks. Here’s a look at Relative Athletic Score: