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How the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals will fare during the 2023 NFL season is intriguing for a lot of reasons. Both teams are right in the middle of a serious youth movement and have a few question marks that need to get sorted out in the early weeks.
Indianapolis has a new head coach at the helm, top-five quarterback leading the offense, nobody really knows what is going on with Jonathan Taylor, and the defense has high expectations with the return of Shaq Leonard. Cincinnati is hoping that Joe Burrow can stay in tact, the secondary needs to play above its inexperience, and the defensive line rotation has yet to come together.
One particular storyline, however, is flying under the radar.
Not one single player on the Colts or the Bengals is over the age of 30.
No other team in the NFL that can say the same!
Safety Nick Cross, cornerback Jaylon Jones and quarterback Anthony Richardson are the youngest players on the Colts at 21. Long snapper Luke Rhodes — who is absolutely shredded — and center Ryan Kelly are the oldest players on the team at 30.
Myles Murphy is the youngest player on the Bengals at 21. Center Ted Karras is the only player who is 30 years old.
The rest of the NFL looks different.
Here is a breakdown of the amount of players over the age of 30 on each roster:
- Arizona Cardinals — 4
- Baltimore Ravens — 6
- Atlanta Falcons — 5
- Buffalo Bills — 6
- Carolina Panthers — 6
- Chicago Bears — 4
- Cleveland Browns — 7
- Dallas Cowboys — 6
- Denver Broncos — 7
- Detroit Lions — 2
- Houston Texans — 6
- Green Bay Packers — 1
- Los Angeles Rams — 3
- Jacksonville Jaguars — 3
- Minnesota Vikings — 5
- Kansas City Chiefs — 5
- New Orleans Saints — 8
- Las Vegas Raiders — 6
- New York Giants — 4
- Los Angeles Chargers — 6
- Philadelphia Eagles — 5
- Miami Dolphins — 4
- San Francisco 49ers — 7
- New England Patriots — 6
- Seattle Seahawks — 4
- New York Jets — 9
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers — 4
- Pittsburgh Steelers — 4
- Washington Commanders — 5
- Tennessee Titans — 5
While the Colts and Bengals may not be the youngest team in the league based on median age, they do not roster a player over the age of 30. The Packers, Jaguars and Lions are the only teams with less than four.
Although this niche stat won’t necessarily have a direct impact on wins and losses this fall, it’s interesting to see it broken down in such a manner. Some of the guys on the field look like they are 35+ years old, but in reality, very few of them (outside of the Saints and Jets) are older than 30.
In Indianapolis and Cincinnati, even that isn’t the case!