Chargers played youngest linebacker corps in 2015, Chiefs played 3rd oldest

One of the few bright spots of the San Diego Chargers 2015 season was the young linebacking corps led by its youngest member, Denzel Perryman.

The snap-weighted age of the Chargers' linebackers was only 25.49 years, which is a solid 1.34 standard deviations from the league average at the position. And their number would actually be lower had the Chargers coaching staff given up the folly of wasting snaps on Donald Butler earlier and instead let Perryman loose on the league sooner.

Obviously, the unit's returning players will be a year older across the board next season, but with Butler likely gone this offseason and possibly to be replaced by a younger player, the San Diego defense will still be very young at linebacker in 2016.

An increase in playing time for Perryman and fellow second-year player, Kyle Emanuel, should be good for the youth movement and for the overall talent level of the position group. It will be interesting to see if the team's new eldest starting linebacker Melvin Ingram can stay healthy again and if the younger Jerry Attaochu can pull that off for the first time.

As you can see, the Chargers aren't alone in the AFC West in having rolled out a youthful group of linebackers. The Denver Broncos' unit was also top three. The Kansas City Chiefs are notably on the complete opposite spectrum with the third oldest linebackers. For the sake of not leaving them out, the Oakland Raiders are around the middle.