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All 32 NFL teams reduced their rosters to 53 players on Saturday. The Rams had some pretty difficult roster decisions to make this year. In Year 4 of a complete rebuild - under Les Snead and Jeff Fisher - the Rams continue to stockpile young talent. For the fourth consecutive year, the Rams will open the season as the youngest team in the NFL. At an average age of 24.94 years, this is the youngest Rams team since the arrival of Fisher and Snead in 2012.
St. Louis Rams Current 53-Man Roster & Depth Chart
C Tim Barnes Demetrius Rhaney RG Rodger Saffold Garrett Reynolds LG Jamon Brown Cody Wichmann RT Rob Havenstein Andrew Donnal LT Greg Robinson Darrell Williams TE Lance Kendricks Cory Harkey TE Jared Cook WR Brian Quick Tavon Austin Bradley Marquez WR Kenny Britt Stedman Bailey Chris Givens RB Tre Mason Benny Cunningham Chase Reynolds RB Todd Gurley Isaiah Pead QB Nick Foles Case Keenum Sean Mannion PK Greg Zuerlein P John Hekker LS Jake McQuaide DT Aaron Donald Nick Fairley DT Michael Brockers Ethan Westbrooks DE Chris Long William Hayes DE Robert Quinn Eugene Sims MLB James Laurinaitis Bryce Hager OLB Alec Ogletree Daren Bates OLB Akeem Ayers Cameron Lynch CB Janoris Jenkins Marcus Roberson CB Trumaine Johnson Lamarcus Joyner SS T.J. McDonald Mark Barron Maurice Alexander FS Rodney McLeod Cody Davis Practice Squad Reserve/Suspended Injured Reserve DE Matt Longacre RB Trey Watts CB E.J. Gaines DT Doug Worthington DT Louis Trinca-Pasat CB Trovon Reed SS Jacob Hagen FS Christian Bryant RB Malcolm Brown FB Zach Laskey TE Justice Cunningham OT Isaiah Battle
Every year - when rosters are reduced to 53 players - Jimmy Kempski (PhillyVoice.com) collects and analyzes age data for all 32 NFL teams. The accompanying chart presents his findings for the past four years:
Kempski explains the seemingly minor difference (2.23 years) between the leagues youngest team (the Rams) and the leagues oldest team (the Colts):
"While 2.23 years may not be a big difference between two individual players, keep in mind that these are the average ages of 53 players per team."
"2.23 years on average * 53 players = A difference of about 118 total years between the Rams and Colts."
"In other words, if you took the 23 oldest Colts and shaved 5 years off each of their ages, their roster still wouldn't be as young as the Rams."
The Rams remain the youngest team in the NFL for the following reasons:
- They're committed to building the team through the draft, opting for talented young players over experienced older players.
- Although the Rams signed a trio of older, experienced veterans during the offseason [Garrett Reynolds (28), Nick Fairley (27) and Akeem Ayers (26)] they also released/didn't re-sign a number of ageing veterans: Davin Joseph (31), Jake Long (30), Scott Wells (34), Jo-Lonn Dunbar (30) and Shaun Hill (35).
- Virtually half of the Rams' current roster is comprised of players with two years (or less) of NFL experience. The Rams' roster consists of only two players who have reached the age of 30: both William Hayes and Chris Long are 30.
- Eleven rookies made the Rams' final 53-man roster. Seven were 2015 draft selections. Demetrius Rhaney is a 7th Round 2014 draft selection. The remaining three are 2015 UDFA's.
The accompanying chart presents the 11 rookies who made the 53-man roster:
Position Player How Acquired RB Todd Gurley 1st Round Draft OT Rob Havenstein 2nd Round Draft OG Jamon Brown 3rd Round Draft QB Sean Mannion 3rd Round Draft OT Andrew Donnal 4th Round Draft OG Cody Wichmann 6th Round Draft MLB Bryce Hager 7th Round Draft C Demetrius Rhaney 7th Round (2014) OT Darrell Williams UDFA WR Bradley Marquez UDFA OLB Cameron Lynch UDFA
The composition of this years roster once again displays the Rams' commitment to building the team through the draft and UDFA process. It's also a testament to the teams' ability to evaluate - and accumulate - exceptional, young talent.