When a Super Bowl Team is Ranked No. 1 in Young Talent on its Roster, That Would Seem to Be Terrible News for the Rest of the NFL

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We're now a mere three days away from the 2025 AFC Champions resuming their assault on the world that began last July. With the disappointment of the business they left unfinished in Santa Clara still fresh in the memory. 

And while the doomers are still trying to minimize their Super Bowl run, claiming it was all just a fluke, mere smoke and mirrors made possible by the fact they were playing a Mountain West Conference schedule or whatever, and they're all predicting fewer wins, they're ignoring a couple of important points. 

First, the 2026 Patriots are a new and improved version of the 2025 conference champs. 

And despite all the big swings Vrabel and Wolf made in free agency (Milton Williams, Kevin Byard) and trades (AJ Brown), they've still managed to stockpile the best cache of young weapons in the NFL. 

As much as I've spent years working to earn a well-deserved reputation for fairness, objectivity, and impartiality when it comes to evaluating this team, you don't need to take my word for it. Consider this analysis:

Source - When we look at which NFL teams are set up for future success, a big part of that is considering how much young talent is on each roster. …

For the first time since 2022, we do not have the Houston Texans on top of this list. But that's fine, because they are No. 2. Instead, our new No. 1 team in terms of young talent beat Houston on its way to the Super Bowl last season. …

As is our standard, we have created these rankings based on a combination of factors:

• Number of starts made by players under 25 years old

• Number of snaps played by players under 25 years old

• Quality of play by players under 25 years old, age-adjusted to capture the fact that a 21-year-old player of X ability will likely improve more than a 23-year-old player of X ability -- and with extra consideration given to Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections. …

1. New England Patriots

Last year's rank: 7

Blue chips: OT Will Campbell, CB Christian Gonzalez, QB Drake Maye

Notable graduated players: S Craig Woodson

The Patriots' haul of young talent isn't just about Maye, but it certainly starts with him. My system identifies Maye as the most valuable young commodity in the NFL after he threw for 4,394 yards and came close to winning the MVP award last season. He will turn 24 right before the season begins. 

Maye's offensive line had issues during the postseason, but there's no question it features young talent. Left tackle Campbell is just 22, and center Jared Wilson is 23. First-round pick Caleb Lomu, who will eventually slot in at either left or right tackle, is just 21. Behind those offensive linemen, Maye can hand off to 23-year-old running back TreVeyon Henderson and throw passes to 24-year-old Kayshon Boutte, 23-year-old Kyle Williams or 22-year-old rookie Eli Raridon.

There's less young talent on the defensive side of the ball, but the Patriots' best defender turned 24 in June. Gonzalez was selected to the 2026 Pro Bowl after posting 69 tackles and 20 passes defensed. Defensive tackle Joshua Farmer is 23, and second-round rookie edge rusher Gabe Jacas is 22.

A few observations about this:

--First, let's not gloss over that bit about Houston ranking No.1 the past few years, and the Patriots beating them in the postseason. Beating them up, in fact. This was one of those Prove It games where the Pats proved they were ready for big moments. Houston led for about a two minute stretch of the 2nd quarter, which is how long it took for Marcus Jones to Pick-6 CJ Stroud, the second of four times they intercepted him on the day. Again, the doubters all claimed Stroud (who's still on the Under 25 list, by the way) handed them the win, without giving any credit to the guys who kept picking him off. 

--I can't believe Craig Woodson is already 25. I'd forgotten that he played five seasons at Cal. But I shouldn't have, since he led all defenders in snaps as a rookie and in all other respects played like a veteran. So while he doesn't qualify to meet this criteria, he is still years away from hitting his prime.

--As is Christian Gonzalez:

According to Ian Rappoport, the negotiations with Gonzalez for an extension are more or less on hold for Seattle to work out a deal with Devon Witherspoon. The two share an agent, and the plan appears to be to let Witherspoon set the market and then sign Gonzo accordingly. Which is a plan I think we can all live with, as opposed to one side or the other playing hardball. Stay tuned.

--Enough hasn't been said about how young the two rookies who started on the left side of the Pats O-line were last year. Campbell and Wilson are still cubs who haven't grown their manes yet. Once Lomu is added to the mix (almost definitely at right tackle), 60% of your linemen will be on this list for a couple of years. As will the quarterback they're protecting.

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--The one sour note in this whole breakdown in Gabe Jacas. Which is to say, the lack of Gabe Jacas. Rookies are reporting and we still haven't the first clue what his status is.

A redshirt year for Lomu and Jacas both would mean terrible ROI on your draft. The early returns at least.

--But all it would take would be Eli Raridon contributing as a rookie TE2 behind Hunter Henry to make it at least a partial success. Losing Julian Hill for the season will give him the opportunity. And as the only other pick they had in the Top 100 besides Lomu and Jacas, they're going to need him to make the most of it. 

All this is just a way of saying the Patriots that shocked the world last year, are going to be re-shocking it for a long, long time.  Be afraid. Be very afraid.