The Cowboys ended the regular season with the second-youngest roster at 26 years, two weeks. Only the Browns, at 25 years, 10 months, were younger, according to the Cowboys’ public relations staff.
That hasn’t stopped the Cowboys from winning the NFC East title and a wild-card playoff game.
“Very young but very experienced,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “A lot of the guys that are two or three years in have played all two or three years that they’ve been in the league. That gives you a lot of experience and a lot of great experience especially all the close games we’ve had over a couple years that serves us well. But just that youth also benefits us, having it, coming out here this late in the year and have practices like we had with the energy, the focus, it’s all going to pay off.”
The Cowboys have only two players over the age of 30: Linebacker Sean Lee, who played only four snaps last weekend, is 32; long snapper Louis-Philippe Ladouceur is 37.
That means all 22 of the Cowboys’ starters are under the age of 30. That prompted a great question posed by Bobby Belt of NFL Network on Twitter: When was the last time a playoff team had all 22 starters under the age of 30?
The Elias Sports Bureau answered PFT‘s query: The last team with no starters over the age of 30 in a playoff game was the Saints on Jan. 3, 1988.
Only the good win young.
“We’re a young team. We’re having a lot of fun, though,” Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “These guys are one, two, three, four years in the league. Some of these guys, first time they’ve been in the playoffs. Some of them, second time, all that. We’re just having a blast with a young group. Very hungry. We’ve got a fairly veteran group up front; guys that have been around. They’re not old guys yet, but they’ve been around. We’ve got a good mix of real young and semi-young. We’re not a team that has those old veterans. We miss the old guys that used to be around here, but these young guys, they’re playing hard and it’s fun to coach them.”
