Packers’ 2023 Roster: Tall, Heavy, Young

The numbers are in, and here is the annual analysis of Week 1 rosters conducted by the NFL.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Sep 14, 2023 11:34 AM EDT
Original:
Sep 14, 2023

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Here’s a tall tale about the Green Bay Packers’ 2023 roster.

In the NFL’s annual analysis of the 53-man rosters for Week 1, the Green Bay Packers are young, tall and heavy. In fact, as the youngest team in the NFL by a significant margin, this was a blast-from-the-past roster assembled by general manager Brian Gutekunst.

By age: The average Packers player is 25.13 years old. That’s the youngest in the NFL by a significant margin. The Cincinnati Bengals are a distant second with an average of 25.42.

What’s striking is how quickly the Packers got so young. The Packers were right in the middle of the pack to start last season. Obviously, jettisoning the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Marcedes Lewis and Mason Crosby played a part in that.

“I don’t know if it was intentional to be young,” Gutekunst said recently. “I think our intention was to be athletic, fast and have a really competitive camp so that the best guys rose to the top, and I think that’s what we accomplished. But it wasn’t just to be young.”

In loading up behind Rodgers, the Jets’ roster is the oldest at 27.11.

With David Bakhtiari, Preston Smith and De’Vondre Campbell, the Packers have three players who are age 30-plus, fewest in the NFC. The Jets have a league-high 15 players in the AARP bracket, most in the NFL.

The NFL averages are 26.08 years old and 7.50 players who are 30-plus.

By experience: The average member of the Packers has played 3.00 NFL seasons. That’s the fewest in the league this year and the fewest since the 2017 Cleveland Browns. The Los Angeles Rams have the next-fewest this season with 3.19.

The Jets have a league-high 5.24 years of experience. In the NFC, next week’s opponent, the New Orleans Saints, has a conference-high 4.83 years of experience.

The NFL average is 4.19.

Rookies: The Packers have a league-high 17 rookies and first-year players on the roster, two more than any other team. Of that group, 13 got on the field on Sunday.

“It’s a great learning experience for them,” coach Matt LaFleur said after the Chicago game. “And the expectation is that they’re going to learn from it, both good and bad, and continue to get better and better and better and grow along the way. We’ve just got to make sure that we continue to push them. All those guys, I can say collectively, they love ball, and it makes it fun to work with guys like that who are going to push themselves and they’re going to push each other to be better.”

The NFL average is 10.06. For added context, in the NFC North, the Chicago Bears have nine and the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings have eight apiece.

By height: The Packers’ disdain for short players is well-established. Thus, it’s no surprise that the team’s average height of 6.25 feet makes them the tallest team in the league.

By weight: The average Packers player weighs 248.89 pounds. That makes them the heaviest team in the NFC and second-heaviest behind only the Patriots (249.11) in the NFL.

The league average is 244.17 pounds. This week’s opponent, the Atlanta Falcons, fields the lightest team in the NFC at 241.78 pounds.

Green Bay and San Francisco have a league-low five players who are less than 200 pounds. The Packers have 12 players who are 300-plus pounds, second-most in the NFC and tied for fourth-most in the NFL. (The Giants lead the way with 15.)