Yesterday, I measured the age of each team’s passing attack by calculating the yards-weighted age of each player who gained either a passing or receiving yard. Today, the historical results.

I’ve written a bit about Terry Bradshaw and his terrible rookie season of 1970, mostly in the context of number one picks taking a long time to break out. But here’s something that often gets lost in the mix: Bradshaw was just one of many inexperienced players on the ‘70 Steelers.

Bradshaw played as a rookie that year at age 22 (Terry Hanratty also started 6 games, and was also 22). The top 6 players in receiving yards on the ’70 Steelers were wide receiver Ron Shanklin (age 22), wide receiver Dave Smith (23), tight end Dennis Hughes (22), fullback John Fuqua (24), wide receiver Hubie Bryant (22), and wide receiver Jon Staggers (22). Incredibly, five of those six players were rookies, with Frenchy Fuqua being the sole exception — and he was drafted in 1969! In the ’70 draft, Pittsburgh took Bradshaw with the 1st overall pick, drafted Shanklin at 28, Staggers in the 5th round, and Smith in the 8th round, while both Hughes and Bryant were undrafted free agents that year. That’s unbelievable, and makes the ’70s Steelers passing attack akin to an expansion team — or rather, an expansion team with almost no access to the veteran market. As a result, Pittsburgh’s 1970 passing attack ranks as the youngest in history:

Rk Tm Year Yds Age 1 pit 1970 4624 22.9 2 pit 1938 1832 23.0 3 ram 1939 2846 23.3 4 buf 1968 3428 23.4 5 tam 2015 8084 23.4 6 cra 1946 3796 23.5 7 crd 1934 632 23.5 8 pit 1942 1373 23.6 9 mia 1967 5482 23.6 10 cle 1986 8036 23.7 11 mia 1968 5686 23.7 12 sea 1977 4918 23.7 13 chi 1976 3410 23.7 14 cin 1969 5440 23.7 15 pit 1971 4892 23.8 16 clt 1982 3226 23.8 17 crd 1937 2486 23.8 18 nyj 1978 5916 23.8 19 bba 1947 3930 23.9 20 jax 2015 8856 23.9 21 phi 1936 1206 23.9 22 sfo 2006 5780 23.9 23 nwe 1994 9166 23.9 24 crd 1955 3040 23.9 25 nwe 1993 6824 23.9 26 ram 1940 3166 23.9 27 jax 2014 6906 24.0 28 buf 1970 5832 24.0 29 dal 1989 6261 24.0 30 clt 1955 3590 24.0 31 crd 1941 3314 24.0 32 nwe 1975 5537 24.0 33 min 1962 5410 24.0 34 clt 1956 4420 24.0 35 sdg 1962 5372 24.1 36 sea 1976 5748 24.1 37 rai 1961 5028 24.1 38 nwe 1971 4412 24.1 39 ram 2010 7024 24.1 40 det 1941 1708 24.1 41 clt 1983 5326 24.1 42 gnb 1952 5376 24.1 43 rai 2008 5278 24.1 44 nyj 1977 4572 24.1 45 tam 2010 7128 24.1 46 ram 1938 2726 24.1 47 htx 2002 5272 24.1 48 min 1963 5374 24.1 49 pit 1972 3916 24.1 50 bba 1948 5377 24.1

Note that the 2015 Bucs rank as the 5th youngest passing offense ever, while the 2015 Jaguars are the 20th youngest. It may have flown under the radar in a season chock full of storylines, but those two teams fielded very young and pretty good passing offenses.

The oldest? That’s probably not going to be very surprising. It’s the 2002 Raiders, followed only by the 2001 Raiders. Rich Gannon was 37, while Jerry Rice at age 40 led the team in receiving yards. Charlie Garner (30) and Tim Brown (36) were the other two key receivers on the offense. Rice being so old was more than enough to offset the more marginal contributions of young players like Jerry Porter and Doug Jolley.

Rk Tm Year Yds Age 1 rai 2002 9378 34.5 2 rai 2001 7724 34.4 3 dal 2004 7272 33.8 4 rai 2003 5976 33.6 5 den 1998 7616 33.4 6 was 1974 5956 33.3 7 sdg 2001 7370 33.3 8 sea 1997 8374 33.1 9 nyj 2008 7033 33.0 10 tam 2008 7576 33.0 11 rai 2000 6860 32.9 12 min 1978 7061 32.8 13 den 2014 9558 32.7 14 clt 1971 4304 32.7 15 nwe 2015 9624 32.7 16 was 1973 5123 32.7 17 min 1995 9001 32.6 18 den 1997 7409 32.6 19 sfo 1998 9020 32.4 20 tam 2003 7887 32.4 21 clt 1969 6286 32.4 22 min 2009 8808 32.4 23 kan 1994 8184 32.3 24 gnb 2006 7894 32.2 25 nyg 1993 6366 32.2 26 nyg 1963 7116 32.2 27 kan 2005 8028 32.1 28 mia 1998 7164 32.1 29 tam 2007 7158 32.1 30 nyg 1962 6892 32.1 31 den 2013 11144 32.0 32 buf 1996 7117 32.0 33 buf 1994 7428 32.0 34 min 2010 6654 32.0 35 kan 1993 6768 31.9 36 gnb 2007 8922 31.9 37 nyg 1961 6070 31.9 38 nwe 1966 5568 31.9 39 kan 2006 6492 31.9 40 den 2012 9342 31.9 41 den 1996 7325 31.9 42 oti 1993 8290 31.9 43 gnb 2005 7928 31.8 44 kan 2004 9266 31.8 45 atl 1998 7488 31.8 46 den 1979 6866 31.8 47 nyj 2001 5742 31.8 48 den 1981 7984 31.7 49 was 1975 6184 31.7 50 buf 1999 6962 31.7

As always, leave your thoughts in the comments.