Youth served the Green Bay Packers well last season, when Jordan Love led the NFL’s youngest roster to a Wild Card win at Dallas. They’ll again carry the league’s youngest roster and youngest starting lineup when they kick off Friday against the Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil (8:15 p.m. ET, Peacock).
According to Adam Schefter’s research on youngest NFL teams by age, Green Bay’s full roster averages 25.11 years old, while Packers starters average just 25.49, narrowly younger than the starters of the New York Giants (25.50).
When Green Bay followed an 8-9 season in 2022 by trading quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, then allowing aging veterans to sign elsewhere, they instantly got younger. The Packers have become the poster child proving the youngest NFL teams can succeed.
In fact, Green Bay became the youngest team in NFL history to win a playoff game, per Elias Sports Bureau.
Obviously, the Packers are young at every position. Their youngest player is 21-year-old rookie Javon Bullard, a second-round selection who will start Friday at free safety against Jalen Hurts and the Eagles. Their oldest player is 31-year-old Preston Smith, the starting defensive end who signed with Green Bay in 2019 and has at least eight sacks in four of his five Green Bay seasons.
Their most intriguing position, though, is wide receiver. That group is a nightmare for both opposing defenses and fantasy owners because each week presents a different threat, whether Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks or Christian Watson. All were in college just three years ago, and head coach Matt LaFleur has no plans to label any of the four Jordan Love’s No. 1 target.
The team made a significant change when it lost one of its young players, waiving kicker Anders Carlson. Green Bay replaced him with Brayden Narveson, another unproven young player with Wisconsin ties, expected to make his NFL debut Friday in Brazil.
Incidentally, the Packers’ Week 1 opponent, Philadelphia (25.62), has the NFL’s third-youngest roster. The oldest teams in the NFL are the Dolphins (27.30), Vikings (27.15), 49ers (26.98), Commanders (26.97) and Falcons (26.89).