LogFAQs > #924378991

I also want to add that just because a player is older does not mean they can't still develop at a decent clip. I can give 2 examples from my own teams progression of players who have developed into starters from backup snaps due to injury/rotation whilst not on rookie contracts

So Stephen Tulloch is one of those guys

OLB Stephen Tulloch
Age 26 > 27 - 74 > 76 (27 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, 0 INT)
Age 27 > 28 - 76 > 76 (19 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 1)
Age 28 > 29 - 76 > 78 (29 / 3 / 0 / 0 / 1)
Age 29 > 30 - 78 > 80 (50 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 0)
Age 30 > 31 - 80 > 82 (88 / 4 / 4 / 4 / 0)
Age 31 > 32 - 82 > 84 (89 / 8 / 2 / 1 / 1)

Compared to 2 guys on rookie deals in a similar / same position over the same time

OLB Adam Tufts
Age 22 > 23 - 75 (82) > 84 (71 / 8 / 0 / 2 / 2)
Age 23 > 24 - 84 > 86 (63 / 10 / 3 / 1 / 1)
Age 24 > 25 - 86 > 87 (63 / 6 / 3 / 2 / 0)
Age 25 > 26 - 87 > 86 (50 / 4 / 2 / 1 / 0)
Age 26 > 27 - 86 > 87 (64 / 3 / 1 / 1 / 5)
Age 27 > 28 - 87 > 87 (63 / 6 / 0 / 0 / 1)

So his first season massive bump was due to a very fortunate position change where he was swapped from a 75 MLB to a 82 OLB. The rest of the time you can see that he has just kind of been a bit of everything playmaker across the board without being spectacular. So despite being on a rookie deal, his progression didn't outpace Tulloch (I suspect it's harder to increase in rating the higher the rating gets) and you can see Tulloch actually outperformed him the last 2 seasons and debatably 3 (Tulloch was backup in his 50 tackle year, Tufts was the starter but missed time, I forget how much though)

MLB Rolando McClain
Age 24 > 25 - 78 > 84 (34 Tackles / 6 Sacks / 3 FF / 3 FR / 1 INT)
Age 25 > 26 - 84 > 87 (85 / 4 / 0 / 1 / 2)
Age 26 > 27 - 87 > 88 (78 / 7 / 3 / 3 / 0)
Age 27 > 28 - 88 > 91 (93 / 13 / 1 / 1 / 2)
Age 28 > 29 - 91 > 92 (104 / 7 / 1 / 1 / 2)

I suspect his rookie season may have had a bit of a preseason bump given his numbers and that he was injured half the season. Aside from that season his progression was similar to Tulloch despite better younger (Again I suspect it's harder to increase the higher rating you get)

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Another guy who has been a backup and developer whilst being on a non rookie deal is Andy Christensen

G Andy Christensen
Age 27 > 28 - 83 > 85 (30 Blocks, 7 Sacks)
Age 28 > 29 - 85 > 85 (9 Blocks, 3 Sacks)
Age 29 > 30 - 85 > 86 (25 Blocks, 4 Sacks)
Age 30 > 31 - 86 > 87 (20 Blocks, 3 Sacks)

Compared to another O-line player on a rookie deal across the same timeframe

OT Anthony Castonzo (but played at G)
Age 22 > 23 - 82 > 83 (20 Blocks, 2 Sacks)
Age 23 > 24 - 83 > 84 (31 Blocks, 7 Sacks)
Age 24 > 25 - 84 > 86 (36 Blocks, 7 Sacks)
Age 25 > 26 - 86 > 90 (56 Blocks, 7 Sacks, 1 FF)

Part of that 86 > 90 bump is due to a position swap to G. But you can kinda see despite being a rookie contract guy, his progression wasn't any better than Christensen until he started in his fourth season. They both fulfilled a similar role as a backup O-lineman with similar stats and both progressed at the same rate. It was only when Castonzo became the starter he out developed Christensen (and that may have been partly due to position swap)