KC Chiefs field the youngest starting lineups in the NFL

The K.C. Chiefs came into this season with a known growth curve ahead of them. It happens with all franchises, as new faces have to learn how to play together, new coaches need to ingratiate themselves, and rookies just need pretty much everything. However, it’s unlikely that many knew the Chiefs would need a greater learning curve than every other team. That’s because they are the league’s youngest.

Mike Sando of The Athletic did the math on the starting lineups for every NFL team through the regular season’s first two weeks. He came away with a surprising realization: no team has fielded younger starting lineups to start the season than the K.C. Chiefs.

In some way, it’s not surprising to know that the Chiefs skewed younger than others. The team has a young core just growing into their Super Bowl window around Patrick Mahomes, who is now beyond his rookie deal and entering his prime at the age of 26. However, that the Chiefs skew that young is something else.

The Chiefs have the league’s youngest starting lineups.

For the Chiefs in particular, this year was about getting younger (and better) mostly up front and that’s where the Chiefs have shed a lot of their age. Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz were two elder statesmen on the roster and the Chiefs replaced them both with 25-and-under players in Orlando Brown Jr. and Lucas Niang.

Speaking of the offensive line, the Chiefs are starting three rookies across the front with Niang as one bookend next to Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey. Even Joe Thuney who was brought in to be a new veteran leader is only 28.

At cornerback, the Chiefs are exceptionally young with Charvarius Ward as the eldest player—at only 25 years old.. Everyone else, including Rashad Fenton, L’Jarius Sneed, Deandre Baker, and Mike Hughes, is a bit younger.

Nick Bolton is starting at linebacker at 21. Willie Gay is 23 when he comes back to sit alongside Bolton in the team’s base defense. Clyde Edwards-Helaire is only 22 as the lead back. Even the team’s specialists are only 24 (Tommy Townsend) and 26 (Harrison Butker).

As for the other stars, they’re just a bit older with plenty of prime left. Tyreek Hill is 27, as is Chris Jones. Frank Clark and Jarran Reed are both 28. Tyrann Mathieu is 29. Travis Kelce is the old man among the bunch at 31, but someone tell him that he doesn’t look 26 again.

In short, the Chiefs are young across the board, which means some of the learning curve we knew was going to be present coming into the season is greater than we imagined. That means the ceiling in Kansas City might be higher than ever—a scary thought for the rest of the NFL.