ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Not to say the Denver defense has some age and experience about it but Bradley Chubb, whose presence has been so strong it seems like he’s been around forever, is easily the youngest player on that starting unit.
Meanwhile, Garett Bolles, who was the Broncos’ first-round draft pick one year before Chubb, is the team’s oldest projected starter on offense. Bolles is 28, seven weeks older than right guard Graham Glasgow.
"At times I feel like I’m the oldest guy," Glasgow said Tuesday in a Zoom video call with the Denver media. "Making sure I’m getting the body right, rolling out, hot tub, cold tub doing all the stuff I need to do before practices. Some of these guys just roll in here, eat some breakfast, put the pads on, go out there and they’re ready to rock.
"Other than that when you’re in the huddle, you would never know these guys are first, second, third, fourth-year players. They all conduct themselves extremely well and that’s something we have going for us. It doesn’t really matter that they’re young, they have the mentality that they’re going to go out and produce and that’s something you can’t really teach."
On average, a Denver defensive starter is four years older and has 3.6 years more NFL experience than a Broncos’ offensive starter.
Defense
Player, Pos. …………… Age .. Exp
Bradley Chubb, OLB ….... 24 … 2
Justin Simmons, S ……... 26 … 4
Todd Davis, ILB ………… 28 … 6
A.J. Johnson, ILB …….... 28 … 2
Bryce Callahan, CB …… 28 … 5
A.J. Bouye, CB ……….... 29 … 7
Shelby Harris, DE ……… 29 … 5
Mike Purcell, DT ……….. 29 … 4
Jurrell Casey, DE ……….. 30 … 9
Von Miller, OLB …………. 31 … 9
Kareem Jackson, S …….. 32 … 10
Average ………………. 28.5 … 5.7
Offense
Player, Pos. ……….…… Age .. Exp
Jerry Jeudy, WR ………..... 21 … 0
Noah Fant, TE ………….... 22 … 1
Drew Lock, QB ………..…. 23 … 1
Andrew Beck, FB ……….. 24 … 1
Courtland Sutton, WR ..… 24 … 2
Austin Schlottmann, C .... 24 … 2
Dalton Risner, LG …….... 25 … 1
Elijah Wilkinson, RT ……. 25 … 3
Melvin Gordon, RB ……... 27 … 5
Graham Glasgow, RG ….. 28 … 4
Garett Bolles, LT ………… 28 … 3
Average ……………….. 24.6 .. 2.1
The gap would be greater if not for Chubb.
"I’m only 24 so I feel like I’m young," Chubb said in an interview with 9NEWS. "Even the outside linebacker room, besides the new rookie there (Derrek Tuszka) I’m still one of the youngest in that room, too.
"I like to have that youngness on my side. I feel like I can play longer, be out there and have a little bit more energy than anybody else. That’s my main thing, to be that young guy who brings that intensity and brings that work every day."
Bolles and another Broncos' offensive lineman, Dalton Risner, came into the league as older rookies. Bolles started playing college football later than most prospects. Risner came out of Kansas State as a redshirted senior, while Noah Fant, who was part of the same 2019 draft class, left Iowa as a true junior.
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