Falcons "boast" third-oldest roster in the NFL

The Falcons have the third-oldest roster in football, per Jimmy Kempski's annual rankings. That's not ideal, of course, but it's also not something that indicates any kind of huge trouble spot for the Falcons just yet.

Why? Consider the 2014 and 2015 offseason. The Falcons brought in several veterans to bolster the team a year ago, and several of those veterans are still here. Then consider that the Falcons jettisoned Joe Hawley in favor of Gino Gradkowski, cut ties with young players like Prince Shembo and Tyler Starr in favor of Nate Stupar, Allen Bradford, and O'Brien Schofield, and you begin to understand why this team is, to use a scientific term, old as hell.

This might seem odd, considering the number of young players on the team, but the ratio is heavily skewed by the team's veteran additions on the offensive line, the presence of 40 year old Matt Bryant, and the veterans like Paul Soliai and Jonathan Babineaux who dot the roster and age it.

There's nothing to suggest having a younger team correlates with immediate success—the Falcons were the second-oldest in 2012, and the 16th-oldest in 2014—but certainly you'd prefer a team that manages to be both young and good over a team that is merely good. The Falcons have a lot of work to do in terms of stocking the cupboard with quality young players, even after a successful offseason, and hopefully we'll see them moving toward the middle of these rankings in future years.

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