Seahawks aren’t quite the youngest team in the NFL, but they’re the lightest

It’s no secret that Pete Carroll and John Schneider have built one of the league’s youngest rosters while turning the Seahawks into Super Bowl champions, but did you know that in Week 1, the Seahawks were the lightest team in the league, checking in with an average weight of 242.26 pounds, more than four pounds below the league average of 246.78?

Of course the Seahawks aren’t the lightest team because they’re trying to be small, rather, it’s a function of Carroll and Schneider’s desire to be fast. Speed is the biggest reason why the Seahawks can be one of the most physical teams in football while also being the lightest.

That’s one of the fun nuggets in this release put out by the league, which breaks down stats of Week 1 rosters. At 25.64 years (NFL average is 26.16), the Seahawks were tied with Tampa Bay for having the second youngest roster in the NFC behind St. Louis and the third youngest in the league. Seattle also has just three players who are 30 or older (Jon Ryan, Kevin Williams and Tarvaris Jackson), tied with St. Louis for the fewest. And despite winning the Super Bowl last year, players on Seattle’s roster average 3.7 years of experience, below the league average of 4.13, yet another sign that they’re in better shape to repeat than most defending champs.

That’s pretty crazy when you stop to think about it. The defending champs, and the team that looks like the best team in the NFL again this year, is the third youngest in the NFL.

A few more notes on the Seahawks (though it’s really worth clicking on the link to see all the numbers):

—With an average height of 6.17, Seattle is dead on the league average.

—Russell Wilson is one of 10 starting quarterbacks drafted No. 75 (his draft position) or later, and one of 16 who is under 30.

—The Seahawks have eight players under 200 pounds, nine who are under 6 feet tall, and 11 who weigh more than 300 pounds.

—Pete Carroll’s USC teams, as well as those that followed his departure, put 37 players on Week 1 rosters, the second highest total for a single college behind LSU, which had 38. As you might expect, USC is the lone West Coast school an SEC heavy list that after LSU and USC goes Alabama, Georgia, and Florida to round out the top 5.