A Breakdown Of The St. Louis Rams 53-Man Roster: Age, Experience, and College

UPDATE: Michael Hoomanawanui and Quinn Ojinnaka have been released by the Rams; St. Louis has claimed Ty Nsekhe from the Colts and Shelley Smith from the Texans to fill the spots

Aside from positions,  there are a thousand other ways to breakdown the St. Louis Rams roster. One of the most intriguing factors, especially on such a young roster, is the age and experience of the players. Experience could typically be measured through an assessment of the players years in the league. However, with a team primarily comprised of first, second, and third year players, experience in the NFL may not be the most valuable factor. Here is a breakdown of the St. Louis Rams by age and the college they attended.

The old, the young, and the Pro Bowlers:

By now, it is a well-known fact that the St. Louis Rams are the youngest team in the NFL. Here are some quick facts about the age of the roster:

• The average age of the projected starters is 26.8, which is skewed slightly higher by our 4 starters above the age of 30
• The Rams oldest player is OLB Mario Haggan, who was born on March 3, 1980, making him 32 years, 5 months old
• The Rams youngest player is 2012 first-rounder Michael Brockers, who was born on Dec. 21, 1990, making him only 21 years, 7 months old
• There are only 5 players on the roster who are above the age of 30: Quintin Mikell, Mario Haggan, Harvey Dahl, Scott Wells, and newly acquired Wayne Hunter.
• There are 31 players out of 59 that are below the age of 25, including QB Sam Bradford. MLB James Laurinaitis barely missed the cut, at 25 years, 7 months.

As a results of the expansive youth of the Rams roster, there are relatively few players on the roster that have received a ticket to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. There are only 5 players that have been voted to the Pro Bowl, and only one of them has made it there as a member of the St. Louis Rams. Those players include: Steven Smith (2009, New York Giants), Quintin Mikell (2009, Philadelphia Eagles), Cortland Finnegan (2008, Tennessee Titans), Scott Wells (2010, Green Bay Packers), and, of course, Steven Jackson (2006, 2009, 2010, St. Louis Rams).

From college to the pros:

One indicator of talent, especially for a young group like the St. Louis Rams, is the level of talent they were up against throughout their college careers. For the most part, you would expect the power house conferences to pop out the supremely talented players, those players that were starters on National Championship contending teams and played against of future-NFL ballers. Here is a breakdown of the conferences that the current players on the roster hail from,

The ACC has gotten the most lovin’ from the St. Louis Rams, especially among our offensive and defensive linemen. Of the eleven players from the ACC, six of them are lineman, including Quinn Ojinnaka (Syracuse), Matt Conrath (Virginia), Barry Richardson (Clemson), Chris Long (Virginia), Robert Quinn (North Carolina), and Darrell Scott (Virginia). There are also an abundance of players taken outside of the Division I-A on the roster. As expected, a good number of the later round choices and undrafted free agent pick ups are from out the major conferences, including half of our practice squad. However, there are a three surefire starters on our defense that were drafted out of Division I-AA or Division II schools, including Kendall Langford (Hampton), Cortland Finnegan (Samford), and Janoris Jenkins (North Alabama), although he did play for Florida before being kicked out of their football program after his third arrest. There are a ton of examples of players from less than big name colleges that turned out fine, such as Terrell Owens and Randy Moss, so it will be interesting to see how some of the Rams from teams outside of the Alabamas, USCs, and LSUs progress in the NFL.

If you did not get a change to check out the position breakdown of the roster you can click here to see it. Tune in to RamlinFan.com tomorrow when we breakdown the roster by draft position.