NFL teams are no longer shying away from older prospects in the draft

Bo Nix has already been 25 years old. Michael Penix Jr. will be found there in May.

Both quarterbacks were the first round of the last year. They were between the 56 -year -old player of 24 or older in 2024.

This number was 54 in 2023, 44 in 2022, 16 in 2021 and in 2020 in 19 to 1920.

In recent years, more old potentials have been drafted because Covid -1 has given the epidemic players the option of staying in the extra year. Although the window is finishing, transfer portals and blue deals can keep some players more prolonged at school.

The parties would have turned away from the old possibilities. Scouts and General Managers once considered 24 years of age as a red flag in some cases.

However, the success of boys like Nix and Zeden Daniels, who was 24 years old in the outstanding Rookie Season, shows that experience can help players’ professionals immediately.

Chiefs coach Andy Red says, “I am from the BYU, where the kids go to the mission for years, and so people go: ‘Well, they are older,’” Chief coach Andy Red says. “Okay, then they come and they work pretty well. So, so, if you start taking a career length, career length, there is a cutoff somewhere, but the carriers are not too long. But we see (age).”

Last year, most of the old players selected in the draft were going to the sixth or seventh round. This indicates that teams are more likely to ignore age after the draft.

“It is only unique for the football world where we are in the football world,” said John Sportac, general manager of the Raiders. “You really got the boys with the sixth and seventh years, and so are you going to be a problem with the age of 25- or 26?

“You go to these schools like Georgia and Michigan, Ohio State and they have received a list of 30 boys who can get out of it … … I mean it was like these 10 juniors, perhaps half of them came out. Now it has been a fourth year senior and it adds more time to the work of Scouts.

The number of old players drafted this season will decrease. There are 46 -year -old players who are 23 or older who are worthy of the draft, including 17 who are 24 or older.

Luisville Quarterback Tyler Shaf, who was 26 years old in September, was the oldest player in the Scouting Combine. He spent seven years in three colleges, including Oregon, where he supported Justin Herbert and Texas Tech in 2019.

Tennessee Wide Receiver Bru McCoy, San Jose State Wide -out Nick Nash and Arkansas Receiver Andrew Armstrong were among the 24 -year -old draft potential in this combination.

Parts with the old philosophy of avoiding old players limit their talent pool.

“I think you need to ask yourself sometimes, are you trying to take this guy for 12 years? If you look for it, this is a small percentage,” John Lynch, general manager of 49, says. “Or you are looking for a contract and then hope more? This is an interesting thing it’s it we constantly discuss eoten

College experience for quarterback is the most valuable. Nix and Daniels proved it when they took their teams to the play -offs last year. Meanwhile, Antony Richardson College threw only 393 passes at Colts before he drafted him at number 4 in 2023. He fought to adjust to the NFL level.

The oldest player selected in the draft was Quarterback Chris Wayne. When Panther chose him in the fourth round of the 2000 draft, he was 28 years and 264 days old. Wayne started just 20 games in NFL, with 2-18.

Quarterback Brandon Wideon was the oldest player in the first round. Brown was overall to him in 2002 when he was 28 years old and 195 days old We Wayne and Wideon played minor-league baseball before college football.

Depending on the location of a player and depending on the round, age can be a determining element when choosing a team between two boys.

“When the two players level, even the same grade, you start weighing what they have,” the general manager of the chargers Joe Horties said about the age. “Okay, he is a three -year -old starter and he is a four -year -old starter. Great leader, team captain, these little things give them a push it is not deliberate but you are talking via it and it is shaking that way.”

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *