New Panthers coach Matt Rhule is tearing down the team he inherited to build it back up, and that entails a youth movement.
In fact, the Panthers will have the youngest starting defense in the NFL in the last 10 years, according to ESPN.
The likely average age of the Panthers’ 11 starters will be 23.5. That’s more than a full year younger than the previous youngest defense in the NFL since 2010, which was the 2018 Browns at an average age of 24.8.
Rhule knows there will be some growing pains.
“Most of us learn from failure way more than success, right?” Rhule said. “We don’t even have preseason games, so we have to do it from practice. We just need time and experience. We just need to keep playing together.”
Rhule hopes that in Year 1, he can start identifying a core group of players who grow into their primes together.