It’s graduation season, and all of social media is filled with photos of students moving on to their next adventure. Whether it’s a kindergartener moving on to first grade, a high school senior moving on to college, or a college graduate who has no idea what is next, this is a time for celebration and growth.

As recognition for the season, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell created superlatives for each of the 16 NFC teams. The Washington Commanders‘ superlative is, well, boring.

The superlative: Most likely to eat an early dinner and go to sleep at a sensible time

When a team breaks through as quickly and dramatically as the Commanders did last season, it’s natural to think of them as a young squad on the rise. The heartbeat of the franchise is their 24-year-old superstar quarterback, Jayden Daniels. They got great work out of rookie second-round picks Mike Sainristil and Jer’Zhan Newton a year ago. Guard Sam Cosmi was on pace to be a Pro Bowler before he fell off in the second half. Those are all impressive players, but they represent most of the young talent who played meaningful snaps on this roster in 2024.

The Ron Rivera regime didn’t deliver many successful draft picks to general manager Adam Peters, who took over in 2024, so the former 49ers executive filled in the many gaps on the roster with free agent additions. Tight end Zach Ertz, linebacker Bobby Wagner, offensive lineman Andrew Wylie and pass rusher Dante Fowler Jr. all held their own in propelling Washington to an unexpected playoff berth.

Those four all have something in common: They’re over 30. Owing to the imported veterans filling out starting roles on both sides of the ball, the Commanders were the league’s seventh-oldest team on a snap-weighted age basis. They were one of just four to rank in the top 10 for snap-weighted age on both offense and defense, joining the Vikings, Falcons and Browns.

Advertisement

While this is only part of what Barnwell wrote, the rest continues to discuss the age of the Commanders’ team and their lack of youthful talent. At the end, he talks about how the Houston Texans surrounded C.J. Stroud with one of the oldest rosters, and while they won the division and a playoff game, it was a struggle all season long and not the season they had hoped for.

Barnwell concludes by saying that this ‘might be more of a consolidation year than one in which they challenge for a Super Bowl.’

He could be right, but he could also be wrong. There are some very big differences between the Commanders and the Texans. For one, C.J. Stroud is not Jayden Daniels. They don’t play the same style of football, and their coaches ask them to do different things. Stroud isn’t quite as talented as Daniels, and the weapons they have to throw to aren’t the same. Also, the Texans don’t have offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

Yes, there is a fine line between being a veteran at his peak and being near the end of your career, but that also doesn’t mean that being at the end of your career means you’re not playing at a high level. Age is a secondary consideration in 2025 as we continue to see players on the field into their late 30s and even 40s, so while the Commanders’ roster may be on the older end, it certainly doesn’t mean they won’t take a step forward in 2025.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Will Commanders’ aging roster hold them back in 2025?