An NFL roster is made up of 53 players, but there are a few core playmakers who serve as the cornerstones for every team. And some of these cores are better than others. We set out to rank them, as is our legal obligation for all June football musings.
A core was defined as the five most important players to a team -- the guys each roster is built around. The ranking is for 2023, but there was a consideration of age in deciding which players made each team's core. For some teams, there were too many good candidates to choose from, while even getting to five was tough for others.
Let's dive into the rankings. Average ages were calculated by taking each player's age as of Sept. 7, 2023 -- when the Lions and Chiefs are set to kick off the 2023 NFL season.
Jump to a team:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LV | LAC | LAR | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Roster core: QB Patrick Mahomes, TE Travis Kelce, DT Chris Jones, C Creed Humphrey, G Joe Thuney
Average core age: 28.6