Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
For the record, Week 3 is too early for just about any team to concede the season by throwing young players into starting roles before they are ready. The Rams have struggled mightily enough in the first two weeks to at least raise the idea.
Should the Rams go young? Yes, but ... the Rams have the oldest backups in the league on both sides of the ball. Removing backup quarterback Trent Green and stopgap receiver Eddie Kennison from the equation would drop the offensive backups from 28.3 years old on average to 27.0 years old, which would rank 11th-oldest.
The point remains. Most of the Rams' younger players are already starting. Let's take a closer look (feel free to download this roided-out Rams roster sorted youngest to oldest). The average NFL player is 27.2 years old. The Rams have 22 players younger than the average. Ten of the 22 are already starting. Five of the remaining 12 have already played extensively: cornerback Ron Bartell, cornerback Jonathan Wade, defensive end Victor Adeyanju, tight end Joe Klopfenstein and defensive tackle Clifton Ryan.
We can disregard two of the remaining seven: running back Antonio Pittman and injured receiver Keenan Burton. No youth movement should include playing Pittman ahead of starter Steven Jackson. Burton is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery.
That leaves five younger-than-average players for which we have yet to account: safety Brannon Condren, guard Roy Schuening, receiver Donnie Avery, guard/tackle John Greco and linebacker Chris Chamberlain. I'm not sure how much the future of the franchise changes by suddenly leaning on those players before they might be ready. On the other hand, it's tough to imagine things getting any worse.
Sando joined ESPN.com in 2007 after nine seasons covering the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune. He lives in the Seattle-Tacoma area with his wife and two sons.
