It was just a week ago that I took a look at how the Seattle Seahawks had selected four of the forty oldest players in the 2019 NFL Draft and wondered if the team might do so again in 2020. With the selection of linebacker Jordyn Brooks out of Texas Tech, it appears as though the team has provided an affirmative answer to that question.
Specifically, Brooks was the fifth oldest player selected Thursday evening, and he and Javon Kinlaw will be the only players taken in the first round for whom 2020 will be their age 23 season. Three players - Damon Arnette, Joe Burrow and Jeff Gladney - will play 2020 as their age 24 season, while 2020 will be the age 21 season for more than half of the players selected.
Here is a look at all of the 2020 first round draft picks sorted by age.
First round picks of the 2020 NFL Draft sorted by age (oldest to youngest)
Player | Date of Birth | Age |
---|---|---|
Player | Date of Birth | Age |
Damon Arnette | 9/2/1996 | 23 |
Joe Burrow | 12/10/1996 | 23 |
Jeff Gladney | 12/12/1996 | 23 |
Javon Kinlaw | 10/3/1997 | 22 |
Jordyn Brooks | 10/21/1997 | 22 |
Tua Tagovailoa | 3/2/1998 | 22 |
Justin Herbert | 3/10/1998 | 22 |
Brandon Aiyuk | 3/17/1998 | 22 |
Derrick Brown | 4/15/1998 | 22 |
Isaiah Simmons | 7/26/1998 | 21 |
A.J. Terrell | 9/23/1998 | 21 |
C.J. Henderson | 9/30/1998 | 21 |
Jordan Love | 11/2/1998 | 21 |
Kenneth Murray | 11/16/1998 | 21 |
Jalen Reagor | 1/1/1999 | 21 |
Justin Jefferson | 1/16/1999 | 21 |
Andrew Thomas | 1/22/1999 | 21 |
Henry Ruggs | 1/24/1999 | 21 |
Tristan Wirfs | 1/24/1999 | 21 |
Jeff Okudah | 2/2/1999 | 21 |
Isaiah Wilson | 2/12/1999 | 21 |
CeeDee Lamb | 4/8/1999 | 21 |
Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 4/11/1999 | 21 |
Chase Young | 4/14/1999 | 21 |
Jerry Jeudy | 4/14/1999 | 21 |
Mekhi Becton | 4/18/1999 | 21 |
Jedrick Wills | 5/17/1999 | 20 |
Cesar Ruiz | 6/14/1999 | 20 |
K'Lavon Chaisson | 7/25/1999 | 20 |
Austin Jackson | 8/11/1999 | 20 |
Patrick Queen | 8/13/1999 | 20 |
Noah Igbinoghene | 11/17/1999 | 20 |
While it will be interesting to see how Brooks performs on the field, he certainly checks off the multiple boxes that Pete Carroll and John Schneider look for from their first round picks. He was a multi-year starter in a Power 5 conference who plays fast and has a good initial burst.
He’s not as old as 2019 first round pick L.J. Collier was when the Hawks selected him with pick 29 in the draft last season, as he is about eleven months younger than Collier was at the time he was taken. However, the fact that Brooks is still in the top five for oldest players taken in the first round this year in spite of the fact that he is eleven months younger than Collier only highlights how much older than a typical first round pick Collier actually was.
The big question, however, following the addition of Brooks is what it means for the rest of the linebacker group, including whether K.J. Wright could be retiring or whether the team has concerns about other linebackers on the roster. Future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner will turn 30 in June and knees don’t magically get better as players get older, while 2019 draftees Cody Barton and Ben Burr-Kirven saw only an extremely limited number of defensive snaps this past season.
It’s an interesting addition at a position group which didn’t seem to be as high a priority for most fans, but the only constant with Carroll and Schneider through the years has been their unpredictability.